WILLIAM  BOWEN 


c 


/  <. 


OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY.  LOS  ANGELES 


SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 


Mortimer  the  Executioner 


"Then  I  will  begin,"  said  Solario,  the  Tailor,  "the  story  of- 


SOLARIO    THE    TAILOR 

HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET 


BY 


WILLIAM  BOWEN 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1922 

All  rights  reserved 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


COPYRIGHT,  1922, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  September,  1922. 


CONTENTS 
THE  FIRST  NIGHT 

STORY  OF  THE  OLD  MAN   IN  THE  SPANGLED  COAT 

FACE 

The  doublet  with  the  missing  button — The  dark  mansion  in  the  walled 
park — The  tailor  meets  the  tall  black  man  and  his  fair  daughter 
— The  Black  Prince  tells  his  story — Eight  tailors  who  could  not 
seio  on  a  single  button — The  tailor  is  visited  by  a  hideous  old 
woman — The  jolly  mule  driver  and  his  sing-song — Adventures 
in  search  of  Alb  the  Unicorn — Solaria  encounters  Alb  the  Uni- 
corn— The  button  is  sewed  on  with  the  unicorn's  hair — The 
Prince  receives  the  tailor's  terms — The  magic  doublet  is  suddenly 
produced i 

THE  SECOND  NIGHT 

ALB  THE  UNICORN 

Alb  the  Fortunate  and  the  Princess  Hyla — A  tattered  old  beggar  comes 
to  the  goldsmith's  shop — The  old  man  proposes  a  strange  bargain 
— The  three  black  hairs  in  the  yellovj  head — Alb  wins  the  promise 
of  the  Princess's  hand — A  trifling  incident  disturbs  Alb's  mother — 
Unreasonable  conduct  of  the  goldsmith's  widow — The  merry- 
makers are  suddenly  sobered  by  the  goldsmith's  son — The  Prin- 
cess behaves  in  an  amusing  fashion — The  Princess  finds  her 
husband  bewitched — Alb  and  the  Princess  visit  the  One-Armed 
Sorcerer — The  Old  Man  of  Ice,  The  Laughing  Nymph,  and 
the  Great  Horned  Owl — The  burning  glass,  the  brass  pin,  and  the 
loop  of  thread — He  hears  thunder  in  a  clear  sky — He  goes 
down  into  the  cave  in  Thunder  Mountain — He  pursues  the 
Man  of  Ice  with  the  burning  glass — He  commences  to  make  his 


2125753 


vi  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

escape  from  the  cave — He  sails  across  the  Great  Sea — He  finds  a 
child  in  a  pool  of  the  rock — The  Laughing  Nymph  in  the  Three- 
Spire  Rock — He  remembers  the  brass  pin  in  time — The  second 
black  hair  is  gone — The  Great  Horned  Owl  stands  ready  for  the 
loop  of  thread — The  wrong  hand  and  a  desperate  fall — Alb  sees 
in  the  river  the  reflection  of  a  unicorn 31 


THE  THIRD  NIGHT 

THE  SON  OF  THE  TAILOR  OF  OOGH 

The  Prince  receives  the  magic  doublet — The  Prince  and  his  daughter 
set  forth  for  Oogh — A  strange  encounter  at  the  wayside  well — 
The  three  blind  ballad  singers — The  blind  ballad  singer  displays 
the  Shears  of  Sharpness — The  strange  conduct  of  the  people  of 
Oogh — The  mansion  in  the  ruined  park — The  solitary  figure  be- 
hind the  spider's  <web — The  Prince  watches  the  people's  behavior 
toward  the  boy — The  man  with  the  ball  in  the  underground  alley 
— The  Prince  sets  out  for  his  encounter  with  Babadag  the  Tailor 
— Babadag  the  Tailor,  Goolk  the  Spider,  and  the  eight  tailors — 
The  three  blind  ballad  singers  once  more — The  magic  doublet 
protects  the  Prince  against  the  Knitters  of  Eyebrows  and  against 
Goolk  the  Spider — The  Prince's  daughter  has  beguiled  the  Shears 
of  Sharpness  from  the  ballad  singers — A  light  flickers  in  the  dark 
shop— The  Prince's  daughter  is  gone,  and  the  Prince  makes  a  dash 
for  liberty — Babadag  the  Tailor  is  conquered  by  his  little  son — 
The  governor,  being  released,  beholds  the  Prince's  daughter — The 
shearing  of  the  Eyebrow — The  skin  of  the  Prince  is  black — The 
doom  of  the  city  of  Oogh — The  tailor's  son  follows  him  into  the 
burning  city — The  boy  is  found  on  the  sill  of  his  ruined  home, 
alive — The  eight  tailors  stand  before  them  in  a  row — They  meet 
the  three  blind  ballad  singers  for  the  last  time 73 


THE  FOURTH  NIGHT 

THE   RAGPICKER   AND   THE    PRINCESS 

The  Princess  hears  a  voice  from  the  waves  beneath  her  window — The 
Princess  sees  the  shadow  of  an  old  woman — A  midnight  visit  from 
a  one-armed  old  man — Alb,  seeking  the  Princess,  sits  down  by  the 
seashore — An  interview  with  a  talking  seal — A  sea  journey  on  the 
back  of  a  seal — The  village  of  storks — The  feeding  of  the  storks 


CONTENTS  vii 


— The  Ragpicker  frightens  the  men  a<way  with  her  bag — He  fol- 
lows the  Ragpicker  down  into  the  dark — She  stirs  a  steaming  mix- 
ture with  her  long,  hooked  forefinger — The  shadows  of  the  chil- 
dren— He  loses  his  way  in  the  dark — He  hears  the  voice  of  the  seal 
again — He  peeps  into  the  sorcerer's  'works/top — He  lies  in  wait 
with  a  bow  and  arrow — The  Ragpicker  releases  the  shadows  in 
the  street — A  singular  commotion  on  the  housetops — The  Princess 
is  herself  again,  but — The  King  beholds  his  child  and  is  grieved — 
The  seal  introduces  his  liniment,  guaranteed  to  cure  in  all  cases  126 


THE  FIFTH  NIGHT 

THE    CITY   OF   DEAD   LEAVES 

The  misfortunes  of  Tush  the  Apothecary — They  find  themselves  on  an 
unknown  shore — The  startling  effect  of  making  a  ring  of  grass 
— They  start  upon  a  journey  through  the  air — The  orange  tree 
and  the  panther — They  come  upon  the  King's  brother  in  rags — A 
dwarf  clad  in  motley  stands  up  to  speak — Buffo  the  Fool  leads 
them  to  the  palace — They  find  the  King  in  a  terrible  state — The 
Perfection  Cream  is  rubbed  into  the  itching  palm — Tush  the 
Apothecary  takes  the  people  in  hand — Paravaine  has  made  her 
choice — He  finds  himself  rubbing  his  palms  together — He  cannot 
find  the  ingredients  for  making  the  salve — Tush  and  his  sister 
are  seized  by  the  angry  crowd — The  genie  in  the  whirlwind — The 
pulling  off  of  the  genie's  ring 169 


THE  SIXTH  NIGHT 

THE   ENCHANTED    HIGHWAYMAN 

A  voice  from  nowhere  bids  the  Prince  stop — The  Prince  listens  to  a 
curious  discourse — The  Prince,  alone  in  the  forest,  hears  the  bark 
of  a  dog — The  prisoner  inside  the  wasp's  nest — The  dog  leaps 
upon  him  to  devour  him — The  Prince,  sitting  on  the  ground,  looks 
up  at  a  genie — The  One-Armed  Sorcerer  appears  from  within  the 
•wasp's  nest — The  Highwayman  and  nine  of  his  daughters  appear 
in  proper  person — He  sees  the  Highwayman's  tenth  daughter — 
The  genie  breathes  fire  upon  the  witch's  hut — The  One-Armed 
Sorcerer  performs  upon  a  button — The  genie  flies  away  with  the 
witch — The  Prince  leads  his  beloved  home — The  magic  doublet  is 
presented  at  the  wedding 206 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

1.  "Then  I  will  begin,"  said  Solario  the  Tailor,  "the 

story  of " Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

2.  Solario  was  sitting  on  his  worktable  busily  plying  the  needle     .  4 

3.  The  Unicorn  stamped  and  gave  a  piercing  neigh     ....  20 

4.  "There  is  something  here,"  said  the  old  beggar,  "which  I  wish 

to  buy" 36 

5.  Mortimer  the  Executioner  was  being  measured  by  Solario  for 

a  suit 74 

6.  "You  are  welcome,  master  peddler,"  said  Babadag     ...  98 

7.  "Beauty  in  tatters!"  said  Babadag  the  Tailor no 

8.  The  shadow  of  a  Ragpicker  oozed  in  through  the  door  .      .      .  134 

9.  The  one-armed  sorcerer  plucked  a  feather  from  the  stork     .  156 

10.  The  genie  flew  away  with  Tush  and  his  sister 178 

11.  The  genie  swung  him  back  and  forth  and  tossed  him  out  to  sea  204 

12.  "I  held  my  trusty  blade  on  high  and  took  from  him  his  money"  212 


TO  BE  READ  FIRST 

IN  the  book  called  "The  Enchanted  Forest"  it  is  re- 
lated—    But  I  hope  that  you  have  read  that  book,  or 
at  least  that  you  sincerely  intend  to  do  so  as  soon  as 
you  have  time,  but  no  matter;  it  is  all  about  a  Forest  King- 
dom, and  a  Great  Forest  that  was  enchanted  by  a  witch,  an 
irritable  sort  of  person  who —     Not  that  she  was  to  be 
blamed  altogether,  in  my  judgment,  for  she  had  been  pro- 
voked to  it  by  a  page  boy  belonging  to  the  King  of  the 
Forest,  and  I  arn  personally  not  surprised  that  this  young 


xii  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

rogue  was  in  consequence  spirited  away  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  no  one  knew  whither. 

Another  boy  (quite  a  different  sort)  named  Bilbo,  son 
of  one  Bodad  a  woodchopper,  managed  to  disenchant  the 
forest  and  destroy  the  witch,  and  for  this  he  was  given,  when 
he  was  old  enough,  the  hand  of  the  King's  daughter,  the 
Princess  Dorobel ;  and  in  course  of  time  there  came  to  them 
a  little  son,  by  name  Bojohn. 

This  Bojohn,  with  his  friend  Bodkin,  a  fisherman's  boy, 
afterward  discovered  the  lost  page  boy  in  a  chamber 
beneath  a  forest  pool,  where  the  witch  had  placed  him  for 
his  punishment;  and  in  this  chamber,  with  the  page  boy, 
was  a  company  of  enchanted  men,  also  placed  there  by  the 
witch,  at  various  times,  each  for  some  offense  against  her, 
and  each  sitting  there  upright  in  a  kind  of  cupboard  in 
the  wall,  unable  to  speak  or  move.  These  men,  and  the 
page  boy  too,  Prince  Bojohn  and  his  friend  Bodkin  set  free, 
by  means  of  a  magical  silver  lamp. 

In  the  audience  room  of  the  King's  dwelling,  a  noble 
castle  in  the  midst  of  the  forest,  the  entire  court  assembled 
to  welcome  the  rescued  men  on  the  night  of  their  arrival; 
and  the  King,  after  making  a  speech  (which  no  power  on 
earth  could  have  prevented  his  doing) ,  created  the  rescued 
men,  without  bothering  to  ask  whether  they  wanted  it  or 
no,  an  order  of  knighthood,  to  be  known  as  the  Order  of 
the  Silver  Lamp.  This  done,  he  addressed  the  new  knights, 
— but  here  I  may  as  well  turn  back  to  the  book  itself, 
which  thus  relates  what  then  occurred : 

"We  are  all  anxious,"  said  the  King,   "to  hear  your 


TO  BE  READ  FIRST  xiii 

stories;  they  are,  I  am  sure,  of  the  greatest  interest.  You, 
sir,"  he  said,  addressing  the  oldest  of  the  Knights  of  the 
Silver  Lamp,  who  wore  a  faded  spangled  coat,  of  a  period 
no  one  present  could  remember,  "I  beseech  you  to  recount 
to  us  the  story  of  your  life,  and  in  particular  the  adventure 
which  brought  you  to  so  strange  a  pass." 

"Willingly,  sire,"  said  the  ancient  man,  so  readily  that 
it  was  apparent  he  had  been  waiting  for  this  opportunity; 
and  thereupon,  with  a  considerable  rustling  and  a  good 
deal  of  whispering  and  nodding  of  heads,  the  assemblage 
composed  itself  to  hear  the  story  of  the  Old  Man  in  the 
Spangled  Coat. 


Bojohn  and  Bodkin 

The  Teller  of  Tales 
SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

His  Audience 

PRINCE  BOJOHN,  a  boy,  the  King's  grandson 

BODKIN,  a  fisherman's  boy,  his  friend 

THE  PRINCESS  DOROBEL,  Bojohn's  mother 

PRINCE  BILBO,  her  husband,  Bojohn's  father 

THE  KING  and  QUEEN  of  the  Great  Forest,  Bojohn's  grandfather 

and  grandmother,  and  the  Princess  Dorobel's  parents 
MORTIMER  the  EXECUTIONER 
THE  ENCOURAGER  of  the  INTERRUPTER 


THE  FIRST  NIGHT 

STORY  OF  THE  OLD  MAN  IN  THE 
SPANGLED  COAT 

YOU  must  know  (began  the  old  man)  that  I  am  a 
tailor,  by  name  Solario.  In  the  reign  of  the  good 
King  Fortmain  the  Ninth — 

"Ah!"  interrupted  the  King.  "That  was  my  great- 
grandfather. Bless  my  soul,  master  tailor,  you  must  have 
been  imprisoned  under  the  forest  pool  nearly  a  hundred 
years  ago.  Hum!  I  dare  say  you  know  what  you're 
talking  about,  but — " 


2  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"My  dear/'  said  the  Queen,  "I'm  quite  sure  that  the 
ninth  Fortmain  was  your  great-great-grandfather,  and  not 
your  great-grandfather,  though  of  course  I  may  be  mis- 
taken; but  it  seems  to  me  that  it  was  the  tenth  Fortmain 
who  was  your  great-grandfather,  because  the  ninth  had  an 
oldest  son  who  married  into  the  Stiffish  family,  if  I  recollect 
the  name  correctly,  or  perhaps  it  was  Standish,  and  at  any 
rate  he  died  without  any  children  while  his  father  was  alive, 
and  the  younger  son  came  into  the — " 

"Never  mind,  never  mind,"  said  the  King.  "You  mustn't 
interrupt.  Let  the  man  go  on  with  his  story" 

You  must  know  (began  the  old  man  again)  that  in  the 
reign  of  the  good  King  Fortmain  the  Ninth,  I  practised 
my  art  as  a  tailor  in  the  city  of  Vernicroft,  a  thriving  and 
busy  city,  located  in  a  corner  of  the  Great  Forest  remote 
from — 

"Fernicroftl"  said  the  King.  "I  don't  understand  it. 
There's  no  such  busy  city  now.  There's  nothing  but  a 
little  ruined  hamlet  away  over  at  the  other  side  of  the — " 

"Well,"  said  the  Queen,  "perhaps  at  that  time — " 

"Don't  interrupt,"  said  the  King.     "Let  the  man  go  on." 

You  must  know  (began  the  old  man  again)  that  I  had 
risen  to  a  considerable  eminence  in  my  profession.  I  do 
not  pretend  to  say  that  I  was  the  very  best  tailor  in  the 
kingdom,  for  I  am  far  too  modest  to  speak  of  my  own 
merit;  but  the — er — the  spangled  coat  in  which  you  now 
see  me  was  a  creation  of  my  own  brain,  and  at  the  time 
it  was  thought  to  be — er — however,  it  speaks  for  itself. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET       3 

"I  think  it's  a  perfect  sight,"  whispered  Bojohn  to 
Bodkin. 

It  is  true  I  was  growing  old,  but  I  was  very  well  satisfied; 
there  was  no  one  dependent  on  me,  my  clients  were  numer- 
ous and  rich,  and  I  enjoyed  the  respect  due  an  artist  and 
man  of  substance.  I  had  saved  a  good  deal  of  money,  for 
I  had  never  squandered  any  in  foolish  gifts,  nor  wasted  any 
in  ridiculous  pleasures,  nor — but  I  do  not  wish  to  boast. 

"That's  a  wonderful  thing  to  brag  about"  whispered 
Bodkin  to  Bojohn. 

One  morning,  a  balmy  morning  in  spring,  I  was  sitting 
cross-legged  on  my  worktable  at  the  rear  of  my  shop,  busily 
plying  the  needle,  when  a  stranger,  richly  dressed,  entered 
my  open  door  from  the  street,  and  approached  me,  bowing 
courteously.  He  was  a  handsome  man,  wearing  a  short 
beard;  and  I  remarked  with  surprise,  by  contrast  with  his 
beard,  that  he  was  utterly  without  eyebrows. 

"Sir,"  said  he,  "have  I  the  pleasure  of  addressing  the 
renowned  Solario,  whose  genius  has  caused  our  city  to  be 
envied  wherever  art  is  prized?" 

I  confessed  that  I  was  the  person. 

"My  master,"  he  went  on,  "is  a  nobleman,  to  whose 
ears  the  rumor  of  your  skill  and  taste  has  penetrated,  al- 
though he  lives  in  retirement  and  hears  not  much  of  the 
outer  world.  I  trust  that  you  are  at  liberty  to  undertake 
a  piece  of  work  for  him?" 

I  assured  him  that  I  was. 

"My  master,"  he  proceeded,  "is,  I  must  warn  you,  un- 


4  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

able  to  satisfy  himself,  in  the  matter  now  in  hand,  with  less 
than  absolute  perfection.  Already  he  has  been  disap- 
pointed in  some  eight  other  tailors,  and  he  has  learned  of 
your  superlative  excellence  with  much  hope;  and  in  order 
that  he  may  assure  himself  how  well  his  report  of  you  is 
justified,  he  has  commanded  me  to  entrust  to  you  a  small 
commission;  to  wit,  to  sew  on  this  button." 

I  was  greatly  mortified  at  this  lame  conclusion  of  so 
promising  a  speech ;  I  suspected  that  the  stranger  was  mak- 
ing game  of  me;  but  his  manner  was  so  respectful  that  I 
held  my  peace,  and  watched  him  without  a  word  while  he 
took  from  under  his  short  blue  velvet  cloak  a  package,  and 
depositing  it  before  me  on  my  table  proceeded  to  undo  it. 

"This  old  fellow  talks  like  he  was  writing  a  composi- 
tion," whispered  Bodkin  to  Bojohn. 

"Oh,  he's  a  Conceited  pumpkin,"  whispered  Bojohn. 
"He  loves  to  hear  himself  talk,  and  I  bet  you  he's  thinking 
we're  thinking  we  never  heard  such  fine  language  in  our 
lives.  That's  him,  all  over." 

The  Doublet  with  the  Missing  Button 

The  package  contained  a  doublet,  of  a  material  I  had 
never  seen  before,  very  thin  and  glossy,  of  a  texture  like 
that  of  wasp's  nest  but  very  tough.  The  doublet  contained 
ten  buttonholes,  but  only  nine  buttons;  one  button,  and 
one  only,  was  missing. 

"I  have  here,"  said  my  visitor  coolly,  "the  missing 
button;  and  my  master  will  be  obliged  if  you  will  sew 
it  on." 


Solario  was  sitting  on  his  worktable  busily  plying  the  needle 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET       5 

He  produced  the  button,  a  large  ivory  one,  which,  with 
the  garment,  he  held  up  before  me  in  his  left  hand. 

"Please  to  hold  out  your  left  hand,"  said  he. 

I  did  so,  and  with  his  own  left  hand  he  placed  the  gar- 
ment and  the  button  in  mine. 

"This  doublet,"  said  he,  "must  not  pass  from  one  to 
another  but  by  the  left  hand.  Please  to  remember  that. 
And  now,  adieu.  I  will  return  to-morrow.  Meantime — " 

He  laid  on  my  table  a  small  purse,  and  bowing  with 
sober  courtesy  he  left  the  shop. 

I  turned  up  the  purse,  and  a  number  of  gold  coins  fell 
out,  enough  to  pay  for  sewing  on  five  hundred  buttons. 
"Ah !"  thought  I.  "At  this  rate  I  can  well  afford  to  gratify 
my  new  client's  whimsies." 

The  next  day  the  courteous  stranger  returned  for  the 
doublet.  I  delivered  it  with  my  left  hand  into  his  own 
left  hand,  the  button  being  attached  firmly  in  place.  He 
thanked  me,  and  departed;  but  on  the  morning  after,  he 
reappeared,  to  my  surprise,  and  as  he  came  in  he  smiled 
at  me  and  shook  his  head  at  me  waggishly. 

"Fie !  master  Solario !"  said  he.  "How  could  you  have 
treated  me  so?  And  a  mere  button,  too!  Really,  my  good 
Solario!" 

He  produced  the  doublet,  and  showed  me  that  it  lacked 
a  button  in  the  same  place  as  before.  He  held  up  in  one 
hand  the  ivory  button  and  in  the  other  a  length  of  thread. 
I  was  perplexed.  The  thread  had  not  been  cut,  of  that 
I  was  sure.  It  was  the  identical  thread,  and  of  the 
identical  length. 


6  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"You  will  not  blame  my  master,"  said  the  stranger,  "if 
he  finds  himself  a  little  aggrieved.  He  had  scarcely  put 
on  the  doublet  yesterday  when  the  button  came  off  in  his 
hand.  I  was  commanded  to  leave  it  with  you  once  more, 
together  with  this  trifling  honorarium." 

So  saying,  he  dropped  a  little  purse  on  my  table  as  be- 
fore, and  after  putting  the  garment  and  its  button  into 
my  left  hand  with  his  own  left  hand,  bowed  himself  out. 
I  turned  up  the  purse  in  haste,  and  poured  out  a  number 
of  gold  coins,  as  before,  but  this  time  twice  as  many.  I 
put  away  the  gold  into  my  coffer,  and  sewed  on  the  button 
once  more,  with  special  care. 

I  whipped  the  thread  around  itself  under  the  button, 
sewed  it  through  the  goods,  doubled  it  back  through  the 
button,  wound  it  and  knotted  it  and  doubled  it  back,  and 
altogether  made  such  a  job  of  it  (however  painful  to  me 
as  an  artist)  as  was  perfect  for  security. 

"/  don't  see,"  interrupted  the  King,  "what  all  this  busi- 
ness about  a  button  has  goJ  to  do  with — " 

"//  your  majesty  will  pardon  me"  said  the  old  tailor,  "I 
have  not  yet  reached  the  end  of  my  story" 

"I'm  well  aware  of  it"  said  the  King.  "But  still  I  don't 
see—" 

"My  dear!"  said  the  Queen,  sweetly,  and  the  old  man 
went  on  with  his  story. 

Next  morning  the  stranger  returned  for  the  doublet.  I 
delivered  it  into  his  left  hand  with  my  left,  and  he  turned 
to  go.  At  the  door  he  looked  back  at  me  smiling,  and 
was  about  to  bow  himself  out  when  he  paused  to  try  the 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET       7 

button  with  his  fingers.  A  slight  frown  came  over  his 
face;  he  pulled  the  button  gently,  and  behold,  there  before 
my  eyes, — I  assure  you  I  saw  it  with  these  very  eyes, — 
the  button  came  off  into  his  hand! 

He  sighed,  looked  at  me  gravely,  and  held  out  the  but- 
ton in  one  hand  and  the  doublet  in  the  other. 

"Alas,  good  master  Solario!"  said  he.  "You  have  not 
treated  me  very  well.  The  hopes  I  entertained  for  your 
profit  are  at  an  end.  It  remains  only  for  me  to  apologize 
for  my  intrusion,  and  for  you  to  return  to  me  the  money 
which  I  left  with  you." 

This  was  too  much.  The  idea  of  returning  money  which 
had  once  been  locked  safely  in  my  coffer  was  more  than 
I  could  bear.  I  sprang  down  from  my  table.  "One  mo- 
ment!" I  cried.  "I  beg  of  you!  That  I  should  not  be 
able  to  sew  on  a  miserable  button — it  is  too  ridiculous  I 
Let  me  see  your  master  myself,  and  prove  to  him  what  I 
can  do !  Take  me  to  him  at  once !  Let  him  assign  me 
any  task  whatever,  and  I  swear  to  you — " 

"You  wish  to  see  my  master?"  said  the  stranger. 

"At  once!"  I  cried.  "Do  not  carry  back  to  him  a  re- 
port of  me  so  unjust!  I  must  see  him  myself!" 

"Be  careful  what  you  say,"  said  the  stranger.  "You 
may  be  sorry." 

"Impossible!"  said  I.     "Take  me  to  him  at  once!" 

The  stranger  looked  at  me  thoughtfully.  "If  I  take 
you,"  said  he,  "swear  that  you  will  never  blame  me  for 
what  may  happen." 

"I  swear  it!"  I  cried. 


8  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"You  will  remember  that  I  warned  you?" 

"On  my  own  head  be  it !    Let  us  go  at  once !" 

"Very  well,  then.  The  decision  is  yours,  not  mine;  re- 
member that.  I  will  return  for  you  to-night,  and  you  will 
then,  if  you  are  still  of  the  same  mind,  be  ready  to  accom- 
pany me  to  my  master." 

He  tucked  the  doublet  with  its  button  under  his  cloak, 
and  in  another  moment  he  was  gone. 

That  night,  after  dark,  as  I  was  putting  up  my  shutters, 
a  splendid  coach  and  pair,  driven  by  a  black  man  in  a  rich 
but  somber  livery,  stopped  at  my  door,  and  the  smiling 
stranger  descended.  I  ran  into  the  shop  and  put  on  my 
best  attire.  Some  time  before,  I  had  designed  and  ex- 
ecuted the  coat  in  which  you  now  see  me ;  it  had  been  much 
admired;  I  put  it  on,  and  hastened  out  to  the  stranger, 
who  bowed  me  politely  into  the  carriage. 

During  our  journey,  my  companion  exerted  himself  to 
be  agreeable;  and  I,  on  my  part,  fairly  unloosed  the  rein 
of  conversation, — an  art  in  which,  I  confess,  I  had  always 
taken  the  greatest  pleasure.  On  this  occasion  I  surpassed 
myself;  I  drew  upon  the  mysteries  of  our  noble  craft  for 
his  entertainment;  I  was  by  turns  humorous  and  grave; 
I  was  at  my  best;  it  would  not  be  too  much  to  say  that 
I  sparkled;  and  in  short,  when  the  carriage  stopped,  I 
realized  that  I  had  taken  no  note  of  our  route. 

We  drew  up  in  a  street  which  was  unfamiliar  to  me. 
As  we  alighted,  I  observed  before  me  a  high  wall,  ex- 
tending in  either  direction  as  far  as  I  could  see;  and  im- 
mediately at  hand  a  little  door  in  the  wall,  toward  which 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET       9 

my  companion  led  me.  He  pulled  a  bell-rope,  and  we  were 
at  once  admitted  by  a  second  black  man,  in  the  livery  I 
had  already  seen.  I  was  aware,  in  spite  of  the  darkness, 
that  we  were  in  a  garden,  or  rather  park,  of  immense 
dimensions. 

The  Dark  Mansion  in  the  Walled  Park 

I  could  see  the  dark  outline  of  what  appeared  to  be  a 
great  mansion.  There  were  no  lights  anywhere.  The  air 
was  heavy  with  the  perfume  of  flowers,  a  cloying  perfume, 
oppressively  sweet.  We  came,  after  a  considerable  walk, 
to  the  house.  At  my  companion's  knock,  a  door  was 
opened  by  a  servant,  black  like  the  other  two. 

We  entered  a  narrow  hall,  and  at  the  end  of  this  hall 
we  reached  a  door,  which  was  opened  by  a  fourth  man- 
servant, black  like  the  others;  and  after  ascending  a  flight 
of  stairs,  and  traversing  several  spacious  apartments,  we 
came  to  a  pause  in  a  small  but  elegant  room,  where  my 
companion  left  me. 

In  a  moment  he  returned,  and  beckoned  me  to  come 
with  him.  He  opened  a  door,  gently  pushed  me  through, 
closed  the  door  behind  me,  and  left  me,  as  he  advanced, 
blinking  under  the  light  of  a  hundred  candles  in  a  room 
more  superb  than  any  I  had  ever  seen.  The  colored  tiles 
of  the  floor,  the  thick  rugs,  the  curious  vases,  the  pictured 
tapestries  on  the  walls, — I  took  them  all  in  at  a  glance; 
and  I  was  aware  at  the  same  time  of  an  aroma  like  that 
of  the  flowers  in  the  garden,  but  very  faint. 


io  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

The   Tailor  Meets   the   Tall  Black  Man   and  His  Fair 

Daughter 

At  one  end  of  the  apartment  was  a  table,  loaded  with 
fruit  and  flowers  and  wine.  At  the  other  end,  on  a  divan, 
sat  a  tall  and  majestic  man,  dressed  in  the  most  exquisite 
taste.  His  skin  was  ebony  black.  He  wore  drooping  black 
mustaches,  and  his  hair  was  long  and  black;  but  I  ob- 
served that  he  was,  like  the  Courteous  Stranger,  totally 
without  eyebrows. 

At  his  feet,  on  a  cushion,  sat  a  lady,  young  and  beauti- 
ful, a  lady  divinely  beautiful,  more  beautiful  than  any  I 
had  ever  seen  or  dreamed  of.  Her  complexion!  it  was 
all  cream  and  roses.  Her  eyes !  they  were  blue  of  the  blue- 
ness  of  violets,  and  they  were  merry  and  soft  together. 
Her  hair! — I  swear  I  can  see  her  at  this  moment.  Her 
hair  was  of  the —  But  I  must  not  allow  myself  to  think 
of  her.  The  black  man  and  the  wonderful  lady  rose, 
and  my  companion  presented  me. 

"You  are  welcome,  Solario,"  said  the  tall  black  man, 
smiling  graciously.  "You  have  wished  to  see  me,  as  I 
hear,  and  to  give  me  proof  of  your  skill.  But  we  can  con- 
verse better  while  we  refresh  ourselves.  You  observe  that' 
the  table  is  set  for  four.  My  daughter  has,  as  you  see, 
already  counted  upon  your  company.  I  hope  you  will  con- 
sent to  accept  our  poor  hospitality." 

We  seated  ourselves  at  the  table.  My  host  clapped  his 
hands  four  times,  and  four  serving  men  entered,  bearing 
the  first  course.  They  were  black,  like  the  four  I  had  al- 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET      n 

ready  seen.  They  were  without  eyebrows,  and  I  seemed 
to  remember  the  same  defect  in  the  other  four.  Eight 
men  servants,  all  black,  and  all  without  eyebrows!  I  was 
puzzled;  and  when  I  looked  from  the  fair  face  of  the  lady 
opposite  me  to  the  black  face  of  her  father,  I  was  com- 
pletely mystified.  As  for  my  stranger,  he  scarcely  took 
his  eyes  from  the  damsel;  and  from  the  manner  in  which 
she  now  and  then  returned  his  gaze,  I  could  see  that  they 
were  on  a  footing  of  tenderness. 

When  we  were  at  the  end  of  our  repast,  and  were 
trifling  with  our  grapes  and  wine,  my  black  host  addressed 
himself  directly  to  me.  I  was  in  a  mellow  mood;  I  felt 
that  I  could  scarcely  have  denied  him  anything;  and  as  for 
his  daughter,  if  she  had  bade  me  run  for  her  sake  to  the 
ends  of  the —  Well,  the  wine  was  excellent;  I  sniffed 
in  it  the  same  aroma  I  had  noticed  twice  before;  and  I 
was  in  consequence  of  it  in  that  state  of  peace  which  in 
other  circumstances  would  have  preceded  slumber.  My 
host  leaned  toward  me  in  the  friendliest  attitude. 

The  Black  Prince  Tells  His  Story 

"My  dear  Solario,"  said  he,  "you  are  asking  yourself, 
all  this  while,  who  I  am.  I  am  a  Prince,  heir  to  the  throne 
of  the  distant  kingdom  of  Wen.  My  skin  was  formerly 
white,  like  my  daughter's.  It  was  changed,  as  you  see  it) 
now,  by  the  power  of  an  enemy,  and  I  am  awaiting  here, 
in  exile,  with  my  daughter  and  my  friend,  the  release  which 
day  and  night  I  dream  of.  If  you  are  not  too  weary,  I 


12  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

will  relate  to  you  the  adventure  which  brought  me  here 
and  changed  my  skin." 

"With  all  my  heart,"  said  I;  whereupon,  without  further 
preamble,  he  commenced 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  BLACK  PRINCE 

"Know,  most  excellent  Solario,"  he  began,  "that  my 
father  the  King  of  Wen  called  me  to  him  one  day,  and 
sitting  down  with  me  addressed  me  as  follows.  'My  son,' 
said  he—" 

"Is  it  a  long  story?"  asked  the  King,  yawning  behind  his 
hand. 

"It  is  very  interesting"  said  the  old  tailor. 

"Not  what  I  asked,"  said  the  King.    "Is  it  long?" 

"Well, — well — "  said  the  old  man. 

"Then  we  will  hear  it  another  time"  said  the  King. 
"Pray  let  us  hear  what  happened  to  you." 

The  old  man  bowed,  quite  crestfallen,  and  proceeded 
with  his  story. 

"Oh,  shucks"  said  Bojohn  to  Bodkin. 

When  the  Black  Prince  had  concluded  his  own  tale,  he 
paused,  and  then  said  to  me: 

"Now,  Solario,  as  to  those  circumstances  of  my  misfor- 
tune which  precede  the  tale  I  have  just  told  you,  I  will, 
if  you  consent,  call  on  my  good  friend  here,  who  was  per- 
sonally concerned  in  them,  to  relate  them  to  you." 

Whereupon  he  nodded  to  my  companion,  who  at  once 
commenced 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET      13 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  COURTEOUS  STRANGER 

"You  must  know,"  he  began,  "that  soon  after  my  arrival 
at  the  city  of — " 

"What  has  this  got  to  do  with  your  being  enchanted  by 
the  witch?"  said  the  King. 

"Well,"  said  Solaria,  "its  bearing  on  what  afterward 
happened  to  me  is  perhaps  a  little  indirect,  but  I  assure 
your  majesty  that — " 

"No,  no,"  said  the  King.  "I  never  sit  up  late,  and  it's 
getting  on  toward  my  bedtime." 

The  old  man  sighed. 

When  the  Courteous  Stranger  had  finished  his  story,  the 
Black  Prince  gazed  at  me  for  a  moment. 

"Solario,"  said  he,  "I  will  tell  you  the  conclusion  of  the 
whole  matter  in  a  word.  To  him  who  shall  deliver  me  from 
this  spell,  I  will  give  five  hundred  thousand  pieces  of  gold, 
of  the  money  of  your  country.  And,  Solario,"  he  said,  bend- 
ing toward  me  and  pointing  at  me  with  his  finger,  "I  be- 
lieve you  are  the  man." 

Visions  of  Solario  the  tailor  as  the  richest  man  in  Verni- 
croft  flashed  before  my  eyes,  and  left  me  dizzy. 

"It  is  a  matter  of  sewing  on  a  button,"  said  the  Prince. 
"I  am  allowed  nine  tailors  for  the  trial,  on  the  principle 
that  nine  tailors  are  the  equivalent  of  one — ahem !  I  beg 
your  pardon.  Eight  tailors  have  already  essayed  it,  and, 
failed.  You  are  the  ninth." 

"And  what  has  become  of  the  other  eight?"  I  asked, 
with  some  misgiving. 


i4  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

The  Black  Prince  smiled.  "You  have  already  seen 
them,"  said  he. 

"I?"  I  exclaimed  in  amazement. 

Eight   Tailors  Who  Could  not  Sew  on  a  Single  Button 

"Four  of  them  served  our  table  here  to-night,  and  the 
other  four  you  have  met  between  your  shop  and  this  room." 

"The  eight  black  servants?"  I  cried. 

"Precisely,"  said  the  Prince.  "I  must  tell  you,  that  he 
who  fails  comes  himself  under  the  spell,  his  skin  changes 
to  black,  and  he  remains  here  with  me  in  my  retirement. 
If  you  deliver  me,  you  deliver  also  these  other  eight.  If 
you  fail,  you  condemn  yourself  and  all  of  us  to  everlasting 
misery.  You  are  our  final  hope.  What  do  you  say?" 

I  was  becoming  almost  lightheaded  with  the  prospect 
of  my  reward.  Perhaps  the  wine  had  something  to  do 
with  it;  perhaps  it  was  the  Prince's  daughter,  who  smiled 
upon  me  bewitchingly. 

"You  have  already  seen  my  doublet,"  said  the  Prince. 
"So  long  as  it  remained  intact,  no  harm  could  touch  me. 
But  my  enemy,  as  I  have  related  to  you,  succeeded  in  de- 
taching from  it  a  single  button,  and  taking  away  the  thread. 
Instantly  all  its  virtue  was  gone;  I  was  helpless.  To  this 
mischance  I  owe  all  my  misery;  my  happiness  hangs  on 
a  button.  Take  the  doublet,  Solario,  and  find  the  thread 
which  will  withstand  sorcery.  Three  months  are  allowed 
you.  Here  are  the  doublet  and  the  button;  guard  them 
as  you  would  your  life;  and  may  you  return  to  receive  my 
thanks  and  the  fortune  which  awaits  you." 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     15 

With  his  left  hand  he  placed  the  doublet  and  the  button 
in  my  left  hand.  The  perfume  of  the  wine  seemed  to 
grow  heavier;  I  was  very  drowsy;  I  tried  to  speak;  I  could 
not  arouse  myself;  I  was  conscious  of  the  eager  smile  of 
the  Prince's  daughter,  and  I  knew  no  more. 

When  I  came  to  myself,  I  was  in  my  bed  behind  the 
shop,  and  it  was  morning.  My  first  thought  was  that  I 
had  had  an  unusual  dream,  but  there  on  the  pillow  be- 
side me  lay  the  identical  doublet  and  button,  and  I  found 
myself  wearing  the  spangled  coat  of  the  evening  before. 
I  jumped  up  and  prepared  my  breakfast,  but  I  could  not 
eat.  A  desperate  case  I  had  gotten  myself  into,  indeed! 
Where  on  earth  should  I  obtain  a  thread  which  would 
withstand  sorcery?  And  if  I  should  fail — !  I  pushed 
aside  my  food  and  buried  my  face  in  my  hands. 

I  heard  the  bell  over  my  shop  door  tinkle,  as  if  some 
customer  were  coming  in.  I  paid  no  attention.  Why 
had  I  allowed  this  hopeless  enterprise  to  be  thrust  upon 
me?  I  was  lost. 

The  Tailor  Is  Visited  by  a  Hideous  Old  Woman 

I  heard  a  cackle  of  unpleasant  laughter.  I  looked  up 
quickly  and  saw,  sitting  at  the  opposite  side  of  my  table, 
a  little  old  woman,  extremely  hideous  of  face,  hook-nosed, 
toothless,  and  wrinkled,  munching  her  gums  and  watching 
me  with  little,  malicious  eyes. 

The  ancient  hag  did  not  leave  me  long  in  doubt  about 
her  business. 


1 6  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"Master  tailor,"  said  she,  "the  fortune  is  yours  if  you 
will  have  it." 

Her  voice  was  like  nothing  so  much  as  the  crackling  of 
dry  wood  in  a  brisk  fire. 

"Never  mind  what  I  know  nor  how  I  know  it,"  she  went 
on,  answering  my  thought  before  I  spoke.  "What  would 
you  give  to  know  where  and  how  to  obtain  the  thread 
which  will  hold  the  button?" 

"Anything!"  I  cried.     "That  is,  almost  anything." 

"Would  you  marry?" 

I  thought  of  the  adorable  young  lady  whom  I  had  seen 
the  night  before. 

"Willingly!"  I  said.     "That  is,— yes,  I  think—" 

"Then  I  will  tell  you  the  condition  on  which  you  may 
have  the  thread.  You  must  marry  me." 

I  looked  at  the  frightful  old  creature;  then  I  laughed 
and  laughed;  I  could  not  help  it.  She  arose  in  a  great  fury, 
grasped  the  crooked  stick  which  she  bore  with  her,  and 
hobbled  toward  the  door. 

"You  shall  never  find  it!"  she  said.  "No,  never!  You 
shall  be  a  black  and  penniless  outcast!  You  shall  wish 
you  had  never  been  born!  You  are  lost,  lost,  lost!" 

That  terrible  prospect  sobered  me.  If  this  woman  could 
by  any  chance  save  me  from  such  a  fate,  what  price  would 
be  too  great?" 

"Come  back,"  I  said,  "I  will  think  it  over." 

"Speak!"  said  she.     "Will  you,  or  will  you  not?" 

I  looked  at  her.  She  was  very  old.  She  could  not  live 
long,  at  best.  She  might  not  live  until  the  wedding  day. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     17 

And  if  she  should,  a  man  of  my  wealth  and  power  could 
afterward  find  the  means  of  mitigating  the  horrors  of 
such  a  marriage. 

"How  do  I  know  you  can  perform  your  promise?"  I 
asked. 

"You  need  not  perform  yours  until  I  have  performed 
mine.  Come,  master  tailor,  will  you  or  will  you  not?" 

"I  will,"  said  I.  "On  the  day  when  I  receive  my  for- 
tune from  the  Prince,  I  will  marry  you.  Merciful  powers  1" 

"Good,"  said  she.  "Now  listen  to  me.  The  thread 
which  will  hold  the  button  is  the  single  black  hair  in  the 
tail  of  the  white  unicorn,  Alb,  who  feeds  in  the  half-moon 
pasture  of  Korbi,  by  the  river  Tarn.  Listen  carefully  while 
I  tell  you  what  you  must  do." 

She  then  gave  me  the  most  minute  directions;  and  when 
she  had  finished,  she  arose  and  hobbled  to  the  door. 

"Stop !"  I  said.  "Tell  me  who  you  are,  and  where  you 
live,  and  when  I  shall  see  you  again." 

She  answered  never  a  word;  she  was  gone. 

The  Jolly  Mule  Driver  and  His  Sing-Song 

I  wrote  down  all  I  could  remember  of  her  instructions, 
and  went  out  into  the  street  to  cool  my  burning  head.  As 
I  stood  before  the  door,  I  heard  a  jingling  of  little  bells, 
and  a  voice  singing  and  shouting,  and  saw,  coming  toward 
me  down  the  street,  a  train  of  five  or  six  mules,  driven 
by  a  short  fellow  in  a  leather  jerkin,  on  foot,  who  was 
singing  raucously  and  shouting  lustily  to  his  animals.  His, 


1 8  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

face  was  gay  and  humorous,  and  he  cracked  his  whip 
merrily. 

"Good  mules  for  hire  I"  he  sang.  "Good  mules  for 
hire !  We'll  bring  you  to  your  heart's  desire !  We  laugh 
at  rain  and  snow  and  mire !  We  never  lag  and  never  tire ! 
We  thread  our  way  through  ice  and  fire !  Good  mules  for 
hire !  Good  mules  for  hire !" 

"Thread!"  What  did  he  mean  by  that  word?  I  stared 
at  him,  and  as  he  was  passing  me  he  looked  at  me  long 
and  hard,  and  gave  me  a  slow  wink. 

A  little  while  later,  as  I  was  ironing  a  piece  of  goods 
within  doors,  the  mule  driver  himself  appeared  in  the  shop. 

"At  your  service,  master  Solario!"  he  cried,  gayly.  "For 
a  long  journey  or  a  short  one!  If  you're  thinking  of 
going  a  journey,  I'm  your  man !  Come,  master  Solario, 
the  sun  is  shining,  lock  up  the  shop !" 

It  seemed  a  curious  piece  of  good  fortune  that  this  fel- 
low should  have  appeared  almost  on  the  heels  of  the  old 
woman  herself,  and  the  long  and  short  of  it  was  that  I 
hired  him  for  my  journey,  at  so  much  per  week.  He  agreed 
to  provide  the  necessary  outfit,  and  we  would  depart  that 
night. 

My  preparations  were  soon  made.  The  notes  I  had 
made  of  the  old  woman's  directions  I  sewed  inside  my  vest. 
I  placed  in  my  strong  box  the  doublet  and  the  button,  and 
bestowed  the  box  where  it  could  not  be  found  during  my 
absence.  At  midnight,  my  driver  appeared.  It  was  a 
starry  night.  I  locked  the  shop,  and  we  mounted  our 
mules.  Preceded  by  four  other  animals,  packed  with  our 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET      19 

outfit,  we  quietly  moved  down  the  street,  past  the  last 
houses,  and  into  the  forest.  My  search  for  the  white 
unicorn  had  begun. 

Adventures  in  Search  of  Alb  the  Unicorn 

From  that  night  until  we  came  in  sight  of  the  river  Tarn, 
far  beyond  the  confines  of  the  Forest  Kingdom,  the  ad- 
ventures we  encountered  were  numerous  and  fearful.  We 
spent  weeks  on  this  perilous  journey.  In  the  second  week 
we  came  to  a  dark  castle  on  the  side  of  a  mountain.  We 
crossed  the  drawbridge,  which  strangely  happened  to  be 
down,  though  it  was  late  at  night,  and  blew  the  horn  which 
hung  by  the  gate.  But  perhaps  it  will  be  unnecessary  to 
detail  these  adventures? 

"Totally  unnecessary,"  said  the  King.  "I  can  scarcely 
restrain  my  impatience  to  know  how  the  story  ends." 

There  are  several,  however,  of  extraordinary  interest, 
which  you  might  perhaps  be  pleased  to  hear:  the  adventure 
of  the  Roving  Griffin,  the  adventure  of  the  Blind  Giant, 
the  adventure  of  Montesango's  Cave — 

"Yes,  yes"  said  Bo  John  and  Bodkin,  in  a  loud  whisper. 

"No"  said  the  King.  "I  must  beg  you  to  reserve  these 
pleasures  for  another  occasion.  I  can't  sit  up  all  night" 

We  reached  at  last,  on  a  sunshiny  morning,  the  top  of 
a  little  hill,  from  which  we  looked  down  on  a  narrow  and 
shallow  river,  curved  at  this  point  outward  in  a  crescent, 
and  beyond  it  we  saw  a  meadow  of  some  two  miles  in  depth, 
bounded  at  the  rear  by  a  high  cliff,  curved  also  outward' 


20  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

like  a  crescent,  and  reaching  the  river  at  the  right  hand 
and  the  left  of  the  meadow.  The  meadow  thus  enclosed 
resembled  in  shape  a  half-moon. 

"Ah!"  I  cried.  "The  river  Tarn  and  the  half-moon 
pasture  of  Korbi !" 

I  left  my  mule  driver,  and  descended  alone  to  the  river. 
I  found  a  ford,  and  though  the  water  reached  my  shoulders, 
I  had  no  difficulty  in  wading  to  the  other  side.  I  came 
there  upon  the  pasture  I  had  seen  from  the  hill.  It  was 
green  with  tall  grass,  and  sprinkled  with  flowers.  I  looked 
about  fearfully,  but  the  unicorn  was  not  in  sight.  Creep- 
ing cautiously,  I  made  toward  the  high  cliff  at  the  fur- 
ther side  of  the  meadow.  Just  before  I  reached  it,  I 
stopped  to  consult  my  notes: 

"A  circle  of  white  stones  on  the  side  of  the  cliff,  higher 
than  a  man's  reach.  In  the  center  of  the  circle,  a  blood- 
red  flower  growing  on  a  long  stem." 

Solario  Encounters  Alb  the  Unicorn 

I  walked  along  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff,  and  after  some  ten 
minutes  descried  above  me  the  circle  of  white  stones.  The 
wall  was  perfectly  upright,  but  its  surface  was  rugged 
enough  to  give  promise  of  a  foothold.  I  turned  my  head, 
and  at  that  instant  saw,  a  short  distance  away,  farther 
down  the  line  of  the  cliff,  standing  knee-deep  in  the  grass 
and  flowers,  a  small  horse,  pure  white,  with  a  pure  white 
mane  and  tail,  and  a  sharp-pointed  horn  in  the  middle 
of  his  forehead. 


The  unicorn  stamped  and  gave  a  piercing  neigh 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     21 

As  he  saw  me,  he  stamped  his  hoof  and  threw  his  head 
high.  I  started  for  the  cliff;  he  made  for  the  same  point, 
as  if  to  intercept  me.  I  knew  that  against  that  sharp  horn 
I  should  be  helpless;  it  was  now  a  matter  of  life  and 
death.  I  ran  with  all  my  might;  the  unicorn  came  on  at 
a  gallop;  we  approached  the  foot  of  the  cliff  together; 
his  head  was  down,  and  I  could  already  in  imagination  feel 
his  horn  in  my  side;  I  doubled  my  exertions;  I  reached  the 
cliff,  and  leaped  up  on  the  rocks  just  out  of  his  reach, 
as  he  swept  by  me;  I  was  safe. 

I  clung  to  my  perch  panting,  and  then  painfully  climbed 
to  the  circle  of  white  stones.  There,  in  its  center,  was  the 
blood-red  flower.  The  unicorn  was  standing  below,  watch- 
ing me.  When  he  saw  me  bend  toward  the  flower,  he 
stamped,  shook  his  mane,  and  gave  a  long  piercing  neigh, 
as  a  horse  will  when  he  is  in  pain.  I  plucked  the  flower 
at  the  root.  The  unicorn's  excitement  was  extraordinary. 
He  pranced  and  bounded,  shrieking  in  a  manner  alm««t 
human.  I  shivered  at  the  thought  of  going  down  to  him, 
but  it  had  to  be  done.  I  descended  carefully,  holding  the 
flower  out  in  the  unicorn's  view.  His  shrieks  subsided 
into  a  moaning  cry.  He  shook  his  head  up  and  down,  as 
if  under  some  strong  command.  I  reached  the  ground. 

I  paused  there  for  a  moment,  for  I  confess  I  was 
desperately  afraid.  Little  by  little  I  advanced  to  him, 
holding  out  the  flower.  He  pranced  and  whined.  I  came 
within  arm's  length  of  his  head,  and  held  the  flower  be- 
fore his  mouth.  With  a  quiver  which  shook  his  whole 
body,  he  seized  it  in  his  teeth.  I  quickly  ran  to  his  tail, 


22  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

and  searched  there  for  the  single  black  hair,  keeping  well 
away  from  his  heels.  Covered  by  the  brush  of  white  hair 
I  found  it.  I  seized  it  and  gave  it  a  mighty  jerk.  Out 
it  came  into  my  hand. 

The  unicorn  trembled  and  tottered;  and  there  in  his 
place  before  my  eyes  stood  a  handsome  young  man,  clad 
in  a  suit  of  soft  and  exquisite  white  leather.  He  fell  on 
his  knees  before  me  and  kissed  my  hand. 

"Thanks,  brave  deliverer!"  he  cried.  "The  enchant- 
ment is  broken!  I  am  myself  again!  How  glorious  to 
be  free  I" 

I  raised  him  from  the  ground,  and  led  him  to  a  con- 
venient place,  where  we  sat  down  and  conversed.  I  placed 
the  precious  black  hair  securely  in  the  lining  of  my  vest. 
If  I  on  my  part  was  overjoyed,  the  young  man  was  pos- 
itively beside  himself.  He  laughed  and  cried  by  turns. 
I  was  of  course  intensely  curious  as  to  the  circumstances 
of  his  enchantment.  He  willingly  consented  to  relate  them 
to  me,  and  as  soon  as  he  had  composed  himself  a  little  he 
began 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  WHITE   UNICORN 

"I  was  born,"  said  the  young  man,  "in  the  Island  King- 
dom, far  out  in  the  Great  Sea,  the  only  son  of  a  rich — " 

"Never  mind,  never  mind,"  interrupted  the  King;  "not 
now,  some  other  time.  It's  my  bedtime.  Get  on  with  your 
own  story.  We've  no  time  now  to  listen  to — " 

"My    dear,"    said    the    Queen,    sweetly,    "perhaps    if 

you'd—" 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     23 

"Some  other  time,"  said  the  King.    "Not  now,  not  now." 

"Oh,  botheration,"  said  Bojohn  to  Bodkin.  "He  won't 
let  us  hear  anything" 

"I  think  it's  too  bad,"  said  Bodkin  to  Bojohn. 

The  old  man  in  the  spangled  coat  sighed  profoundly. 

When  the  young  man  had  finished  his  tale,  the  day  was 
far  advanced.  I  wished  to  take  him  back  with  me  to 
Vernicroft,  but  he  was  anxious  to  return  to  the  Island  King- 
dom without  losing  a  moment;  we  crossed  the  river  together, 
and  parted.  I  have  never  seen  him  since. 

We  made  good  speed  homeward;  all  our  difficulties 
seemed  to  have  vanished.  At  first,  I  was  saddened  by 
the  thought  of  my  approaching  marriage  to  the  hideous  and 
hateful  old  hag;  but  a  new  thought  began  to  take  posses- 
sion of  me,  and  grew  stronger  as  we  rode  along  from  day 
to  day,  and  my  heart  soon  became  lighter.  Master  as  I 
was  of  such  a  key  to  power  as  lay  secure  within  my  vest, 
I  could  marry  whom  I  chose.  Why  should  I  marry  the 
ugliest  creature  I  had  ever  seen,  when  the  most  beautiful 
might  be  mine  for  the  asking?  The  more  I  thought  of 
it,  the  more  indignant  I  became  at  the  manner  in  which 
my  easy  good  nature  had  been  imposed  on  at  every  hand; 
I  had  been  grossly  overreached;  the  bargain  was  beyond 
measure  unconscionable;  the  exquisite  face  of  the  Prince's 
daughter  haunted  me  day  and  night —  And  in  short, 
when  we  arrived  at  Vernicroft,  my  mind  was  made  up; 
I  would  not  marry  the  old  woman,  and  I  would  exact  from 
the  Prince  a  reward  far  more  suitable  than  the  one  he  had 
promised. 


24  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

It  was  just  on  the  stroke  of  midnight  when  we  reached 
my  shop.  I  left  my  driver  on  the  sill,  and  procuring  the 
necessary  gold  within,  paid  him  off  and  dismissed  him.  He 
was  a  merry  fellow,  and  had  served  me  well,  though  I 
must  say  that  I  had  never  learned  to  like  his  way  of  cook- 
ing beans.  He  bade  me  a  gay  farewell,  and  as  I  turned 
back  into  the  shop  I  looked  over  my  shoulder,  expecting 
to  see  him  with  his  mules  on  his  way  down  the  street.  To 
my  astonishment,  there  was  positively  nothing  in  sight; 
the  street  was  empty;  in  that  moment  the  driver  and  his 
animals  had  vanished. 

I  entered  the  shop.  The  journey  had  cost  me  all  the 
savings  of  my  lifetime.  But  what  did  it  matter?  I  was 
about  to  become  rich  beyond  all  my  dreams.  I  lit  my 
lamp  and  looked  about  me.  There,  beside  my  tailor's 
bench,  sat  the  old  woman  herself.  Her  hands  rested  on 
the  head  of  her  crooked  stick,  and  her  toothless  jaws  were 
working. 

"Well,"  she  said,  "you  have  it?" 

"Yes,"  said  I,  "I  have  it." 

"Good,"  said  she.  "The  Prince's  friend  has  been  here 
many  times.  He  will  come  to-morrow.  I  will  return  to 
claim  you  afterward.  Good." 

She  rose,  leaned  on  her  stick,  and  nodding  her  head 
and  grinning  to  herself  hobbled  out  of  the  shop.  My  reso- 
lution to  save  myself  from  this  outrageous  creature  be- 
came absolutely  fixed. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     25 


The  Button  Is  Sewed  on  with  the  Unicorn's  Hair 

I  drew  out  the  black  hair  of  the  unicorn's  tail,  and  gave 
myself  up  to  the  pleasant  task  of  sewing  on  the  button. 
It  was  soon  done,  and  it  was  well  done.  Nothing  could 
be  more  secure.  I  placed  the  doublet  under  my  pillow 
and  went  to  bed. 

In  the  morning  I  arose  with  a  light  heart.  In  order 
that  the  doublet  might  be  near  me,  I  put  it  on;  and  during 
the  day  three  accidents  proved  its  quality.  First,  a  hot  iron 
with  which  I  was  pressing  my  spangled  coat  slipped  from 
my  right  hand  and  came  down  squarely  on  my  left,  and 
I  felt  no  pain  whatever.  Next,  a  needle  pricked  my  finger, 
and  I  was  aware  of  no  inconvenience.  And  last,  as  I  was 
standing  in  the  doorway,  some  wicked  boys,  with  whom 
I  was  never  a  favorite,  hurled  a  stone  at  me,  striking  me 
violently  on  the  temple;  but  its  effect  was  no  more  than  that 
of  a  soft  cushion.  Undoubtedly  the  unicorn's  hair  was 
the  authentic  thread. 

At  nightfall,  after  I  had  put  up  my  shutters,  I  stored 
the  doublet  secretly  away,  and  was  making  ready  to  go 
to  bed,  when  a  knock  sounded  at  the  door,  and  I  admitted 
the  Prince's  friend,  smiling  and  gracious  as  before.  He 
looked  inquiringly  at  me.  I  bowed  and  smiled. 

"Yes,"  I  said,  "the  work  is  done." 

"The  thread?"  he  cried. 

"I  have  it,  never  fear!     The  work  is  done." 

He  was  in  a  state  of  great  excitement. 


26  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"Come !"  he  cried.  "The  carriage  is  at  the  door.  Bring 
it  with  you.  Hurry!" 

In  a  moment  I  was  in  his  carriage,  with  a  bundle  under 
my  arm.  We  stopped  at  the  same  place  as  before,  and 
reached  by  the  same  route  the  room  where  I  had  first 
seen  the  Prince  and  his  daughter.  They  arose  in  agitation 
as  I  came  in,  and  at  a  joyful  signal  from  my  companion 
came  forward  and  grasped  my  hands.  Truly  the  lady  was 
more  beautiful  than  I  had  dreamed. 

"You   have   succeeded?"   said  the   Prince. 

"I  have!"  said  I.  "Your  deliverance  is  assured!"  And 
I  described  the  accidents  from  which  the  doublet  had  pro- 
tected me  that  day. 

"Let  us  sit  down,"  said  the  Prince;  and  when  we  were 
all  seated,  with  fruit  and  wine  before  us,  he  begged  me  to 
tell  my  story. 

I  told  as  much  as  I  thought  fit,  omitting  any  mention  of 
the  old  woman.  The  Prince  desired  to  see  the  doublet. 
With  my  left  hand  I  placed  in  his  left  the  package  I  had 
brought  with  me.  He  opened  it  and  held  up  the  con- 
tents. Alas,  it  was  not  the  doublet  at  all,  but  some  in- 
different garment  intended  for  another  client! 

He  looked  at  me  in  amazement.  I  was  covered  with 
confusion,  and  begged  him  to  overlook  my  carelessness. 
He  listened  coldly. 

"You  will  bring  the  doublet  here  to-morrow,"  he  said 
sternly. 

"That  is  understood,"   I  said.     "Meanwhile,"   I   went 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     27 

on,  fortifying  myself  with  another  glass  of  the  perfumed 
wine,  "we  may  as  well  discuss  the  question  of  my  reward." 

"That,"   said   the   Prince,    "is   already   settled." 

"The  case  is  altered,"  I  said.  "If  I  had  known  what 
lay  before  me,  I  could  have  made  more  fitting  terms;  but 
I  was  in  the  dark;  the  dangers  and  exertions  of  my  ex- 
istence since  then  have  changed  the  case  completely.  I 
am  sure  that  you  do  not  wish  to  deal  with  me  unjustly. 
Think  what  my  service  means  to  you!  In  your  place, 
I  should  think  nothing  too  precious  for  my  deliverer." 

A  dark  frown  came  over  the  Prince's  face. 

"What  is  it  you  demand?"  said  he. 

The  Prince  Receives  the  Tailor's   Terms 

"I  demand  nothing,"  said  I.  "But  if  you  wish  to  have 
the  doublet  and  be  restored  to  yourself,  your  country,  and 
your  people,  I  shall  ask  only  three  things :  one  million  pieces 
of  gold,  this  house,  and  your  daughter's  hand  in  marriage." 

All  three  jumped  to  their  feet.  I  sat  calmly.  At  a  look 
from  the  Prince,  his  daughter  and  the  Courteous  Stranger 
sat  down  again.  They  were  both  very  pale. 

"These  are  your  terms?"  said  the  Prince.  "You  are 
resolved  on  this?" 

"Inflexibly,"  I  said. 

"Then  we  must  consider,"  said  he.  "When  you  bring 
the  doublet  to-morrow  you  shall  have  my  answer.  For 
the  present,  let  us  dismiss  the  subject." 

His  command  of  himself  was  superb.     He  began  to  talk 


28  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

lightly  on  indifferent  subjects,  and  as  he  talked  his  voice 
became  gradually  more  distant,  and  I  grew  drowsy;  I 
knew  I  was  falling  asleep.  I  remember  nothing  more  until 
I  awoke  the  next  morning  in  my  own  bed. 

To  my  surprise,  the  old  woman  did  not  appear  at  all 
on  that  day.  On  the  whole,  the  time  passed  pleasantly. 
I  had  no  doubt  the  Prince  would  accept  my  terms.  I 
reveled  in  the 'happiness  which  was  so  soon  to  be  mine. 

At  night,  dressed  in  my  spangled  coat,  and  with  a  bundle 
under  my  arm,  I  sat  in  the  shop  waiting  for  my  stranger. 
I  was  too  wise  to  take  with  me  the  true  doublet,  and  you 
may  be  sure  the  bundle  contained  a  substitute.  It  would 
be  time  enough  to  deliver  the  magic  garment  at  the  wed- 
ding. It  reposed  meanwhile  under  lock  and  kejy,  con- 
cealed beyond  the  possibility  of  discovery. 

It  was  late  when  the  stranger  appeared.  He  conducted 
me  to  the  Prince  and  his  daughter  in  chilly  silence.  The 
Prince  was  standing,  and  his  daughter  sat  on  the  divan, 
her  chin  in  her  hand. 

"You  have  brought  the  doublet?"  said  the  Prince. 

"First,"  I  said,  "do  you  accept  the  terms?" 

"I  must  see  the  doublet,"  he  said. 

With  my  left  hand  I  placed  the  bundle  in  his  left  hand. 
He  opened  it.  When  he  saw  its  contents,  he  turned  on  me 
with  a  face  like  a  thunder  cloud. 

"What!"  said  I.  "Another  accident?  Well,  it's  of  no 
consequence.  The  doublet  is  safe,  perfectly  safe.  It  will 
be  placed  in  your  hands — at  the  wedding.  Do  you  con- 
sent?" 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     29 

The  Magic  Doublet  Is  Suddenly  Produced 

He  clapped  his  hands.  A  door  opened  behind  the 
divan,  and — I  could  scarcely  believe  my  eyes — in  hobbled, 
with  her  crooked  stick,  the  old  woman  whom  I  had  pledged 
myself  to  marry.  I  was  speechless  with  astonishment. 
The  Prince  clapped  his  hands  again.  From  other  doors 
entered  the  eight  black  tailors  whom  I  had  seen  before. 
The  ancient  hag  approached  the  Prince,  and  drew  forth 
from  her  dress  the  doublet  which  I  had  left  securely  locked 
and  hidden  at  home !  I  saw  it  closely;  it  could  be  no  other. 
With  her  left  hand  she  laid  it  in  the  left  hand  of  the 
Prince. 

In  an  instant  he  had  put  it  on.  When  he  had  buttoned 
the  last  button,  a  startling  change  came  over  him  and  the 
eight  black  tailors.  All  their  faces  grew  a  mottled  blue, 
then  red,  and  then  the  natural  color  of  healthy  white  skin. 

At  the  same  time  the  room  began  to  contract.  The  ceil- 
ing came  slowly  down  and  stopped  just  above  my  head. 
The  walls  came  slowly  together,  and  as  they  reached  the 
Prince,  his  daughter,  the  Courteous  Stranger,  and  the  eight 
tailors,  gave  way  to  them,  so  that  all  these  persons  passed 
from  view  on  the  outer  side,  and  I  was  left  alone  with 
the  hideous  old  woman,  with  the  walls  coming  in  upon 
us  by  degrees  until  I  thought  we  should  be  crushed. 

I  became  dizzy;  I  sank  in  terror  upon  the  chair  which 
stood  beside  me.  The  walls  came  on  from  all  four  sides 
until  the  place  wherein  I  sat  was  no  bigger  than  a  cup- 
board, and  there  they  stopped.  I  breathed  a  sigh  of  relief, 


30  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

and  attempted  to  rise.     To  my  horror,  I  could  not  move. 

The  old  woman  pointed  a  skinny  finger  at  me  and  gave  a 
loud  and  angry  laugh  which  sent  a  chill  up  and  down  my 
spine.  She  moved  her  finger  about  in  strange  figures.  She 
mumbled  to  herself  a  torrent  of  meaningless  words;  and 
passing  through  the  door  which  remained  before  me  in 
one  wall  of  my  cabinet,  she  left  me,  and  closed  the  door 
behind  her.  The  closet  began  to  rock;  it  seemed  to  rise, 
and  in  a  moment  I  knew  that  it  was  flying  with  me  through 
space.  .  .  . 

Thus,  your  majesty  (said  the  old  man  in  the  spangled 
coat),  I  came  to  be  imprisoned  in  my  cell  beneath  the  For- 
est Pool.  There  I  sat,  unable  to  move  or  speak,  for  nearly 
a  hundred  years,  until  the  happy  day  when  I  was  delivered 
by  the  excellent  Prince,  your  grandson;  and  for  the  refuge 
which  has  been  accorded  me  in  your  majesty's  castle  I  now 
tender  to  your  majesty  my  grateful  thanks,  and — 

"Eh?  What?  Did  you  say  something?"  exclaimed  the 
King,  waking  up  from  a  sound  slumber,  and  rubbing  his 
eyes.  "Oh,  yes.  I  see.  Very  interesting.  Very  interest- 
ing. Something  about  a  button,  wasn't  it?  Bless  my  soul, 
I'd  no  idea  it  was  so  late.  It's  long  past  my  bedtime. 
Pm  always  late  for  breakfast  when  I  stay  up  past  my — 
Mortimer,  will  you  see  to  it  that  the  castle  windows  are 
locked  for  the  night?  My  dear,  I  think  we  will  have  bacon 
and  eggs  in  the  morning;  and  if  it's  at  all  possible,  I'd 
like  to  have  a  piece  of  toast  that  isn't  burnt.  The  audience 


is  now  over." 


THE  SECOND  NIGHT 

ALB  THE  UNICORN 


^lOLARIO  the  Tailor  was  sitting  at  the  open  window 
i  j  of  his  room  in  the  northeast  tower  of  the  castle,  look- 
ing out  at  the  stars  which  glittered  in  a  clear  sky 
over  the  Great  Forest.  He  sighed,  and  rising  wearily  lit 
the  candles  on  his  table;  and  at  that  moment  there  came  a 
knock  on  his  door,  and  Bo  John  and  Bodkin  entered,  rather 
timidly. 

"If  you  please,  sir  —  "  said  Bojohn. 
"Pray  be  seated,"  said  Solario,  and  they  all  sat  down. 
"It's  a  warm  evening,"  said  he. 

"We  thought"  said  Bojohn,  "that  you  might  perhaps 
be  willing  to  tell  us  one  of  the  stories  that  you  —  " 

31 


32  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"It's  very  warm  this  evening,  indeed,"  said  Solario. 
"Quite  oppressive." 

"If  it  wouldn't  be  too  much  trouble,"  said  Bodkin,  "we'd 
like  you  to  tell  us  about — " 

"/  don't  know  when  I've  felt  the  heat  so  much,"  said  the 
old  tailor.  "But  then  it's  the  idleness.  If  there  were  only 
something  to  do,  there  wouldn't  be  so  much  time  to  think 
about  the  weather." 

"Last  night,  sir,"  said  Bojohn,  "you  were  obliged  to 
leave  out  some  parts  of  your  story,  and  we  thought — " 

"If  I  only  had  a  few  good  ells  of  cloth  on  my  table,  and 
a  man  like — well,  say  like  Mortimer  the  Executioner, — to 
^exercise  my  art  on,  I'd  be  the  happiest  man  alive;  but  as 
it  is,  sitting  here  with  nothing  to  do — " 

"There  was  one  tale  you  mentioned,"  said  Bojohn,  "about 


"It's  a  very  fine  thing  to  be  a  Knight  of  the  Silver  Lamp," 
said  Solario,  "but  there  doesn't  seem  to  be  much  connected 
with  it  in  the  nature  of  work.  If  I  could  only  be  employed 
in  making  a  suit  of  clothes  for  Mortimer  the  Executioner! 
There's  a  subject!  The  biggest  man  I've  ever  seen  in  my 
life,  and  the  hardest  to  fit!  That  would  be  an  undertaking 
worthy  of  my  genius.  Dear,  dear!" 

"I'll  speak  to  grandfather  about  it,"  said  Bojohn.  "I'm 
sure  he'll  let  you  make  a  suit  for  Mortimer.  But  what  we 
would  like  to  know  is — " 

"We1  d  like  to  hear  one  of  the  stone's,"  began  Bodkin 
again,  "that  the  King  made  you  leave  out  last  night 
when — " 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     33 

"It  made  no  difference  to  me,  I  assure  you,"  said  Solario, 
stiffly.  "None  whatever." 

"But  if  you  would  only  tell  us — "  said  Bodkin. 

"I  do  not  wish  to  annoy  any  one  with  my  dull  tales" 
said  Solario.  "Far  from  it;  far  from  it  indeed,  I  assure 
you." 

"But  there  was  one"  said  Bojohn,  "about  a  griffin; 
what  kind  of  a  griffin  did  you  say  it  was?" 

"I  believe,  if  I  remember  correctly,  it  was  a  Roving 
Griffin;  but  his  majesty  your  grandfather — " 

"Oh,  never  mind  grandfather"  said  Bojohn.  "Tell  us 
about  the — " 

"I'd  rather  hear  the  one  about  the  giant"  said  Bodkin. 

"You  probably  have  reference  to  the  Blind  Giant,"  said 
Solario.  "But—" 

"Then  there  was  one,"  said  Bojohn,  "about  some  cave 
or  other." 

"The  Cave  of  Montesango,"  said  Solario.  "I  remember 
it  only  too  well.  But  I  could  n't  tell  you  that;  it  would  be 
too  terrible.  You  wouldn't  be  able  to  sleep  in  your  beds 
to-night" 

"Then  tell  us  that  one!"  cried  the  two  boys,  together. 

"No,"  said  Solario.     "The  King  would  never  approve 

if  i-" 

"Grandfather  isn't  here  now,"  said  Bojohn.    "Please — " 
"Perhaps,"  said  Solario,  "I  might  tell  you  the  story  con- 
cerning the —    But  I  fear  it  would  bore  you" 
"No!  no!"  cried  the  boys. 


34  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"Then  I  might  perhaps  tell  you  the  story  of  Alb  the 
Unicorn,  only — " 

"Yes!  yes!     Tell  us  about  the  unicorn!" 

"You  are  sure  it  will  not  weary  you?" 

"Not  a  bit!"  said  Bojohn. 

"Would  you  mind,  sir"  said  Bodkin,  "leaving  out  the  big 
words?" 

"I  shall  willingly  endeavor  to  gratify  your  reasonable 
predilection  for  lucidity"  said  Solario. 

"Sir?"  said  Bodkin. 

"Never  mind"  said  Bojohn.     "Let  him  go  on." 

"Ahem!"  said  the  old  man,  clearing  his  throat.  "I  will 
give  you  as  much  of  it  as  I  can  remember,  as  it  was  told  me 
by  the  young  man  in  the  white  leather  suit  while  we  were 
sitting  in  the  half-moon  pasture  of  Korbi  by  the  river  Tarn, 
after  I  had  delivered  him  from  his  enchantment.  You  are 
sure  it  will  not  weary  you?" 

"Go  on!    Go  on!" 

"Then  I  will  begin"  said  Solario,  settling  himself  back  at 
his  ease,  and  folding  his  hands  across  his  stomach, 

"THE  STORY  OF  ALB  THE  UNICORN." 

You  must  know  (said  the  young  man  to  me)  that  I  am 
called  Alb  the  Fortunate.  I  was  born  in  the  Island  King- 
dom, far  out  in  the  Great  Sea,  the  only  son  of  a  rich  gold- 
smith. I  lived  with  my  parents,  by  whom  I  was  tenderly 
loved,  in  the  principal  city  of  that  kingdom,  in  which  city, 
on  a  height  overlooking  the  island,  stood  the  castle  of  the 
King. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     35 

Alb  the  Fortunate  and  the  Princess  Hyla 

My  father,  whose  skill  in  his  art  had  caused  him  to  be 
valued  highly  by  the  King,  was  a  familiar  figure  at  the  castle, 
and  I  had  there,  in  company  with  my  mother,  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  young  Princess  Hyla,  the  King's  only 
child,  a  beautiful  and  amiable  girl  some  two  years  younger 
than  myself.  We  were  even  permitted  to  play  together  in 
the  gardens  of  the  castle,  for  the  King  was  in  no  wise  proud, 
but  on  the  contrary  made  a  point  of  treating  his  subjects  with 
a  friendliness  which  endeared  him  to  them  all.  I  need 
hardly  tell  you  that  from  the  earliest  moment  I  knew  that  I 
loved  the  little  Princess. 

I  grew  thus  in  time  to  be  twelve  years  old.  Although  my 
parents  had  done  for  me  all  that  love  could  devise  and 
money  could  effect,  I  had  caused  them  much  uneasiness.  My 
disposition  was  unnaturally  gloomy;  I  scarcely  ever  smiled; 
my  mind  was  filled  with  terrors,  I  knew  not  why;  I  would  sit 
for  hours  in  moody  silence;  the  games  of  other  boys  did  not 
amuse  me ;  and  I  would  find  myself  at  times  weeping  bitterly, 
for  no  reason  whatever. 

All  that  my  parents  could  do  to  divert  me  availed  nothing; 
I  continued  to  be  a  misery  to  myself  and  to  them.  They 
feared  for  my  health;  their  wealth  no  longer  gave  them  any 
pleasure;  and  an  atmosphere  of  gloom  settled  down  upon 
their  house.  Sometimes  my  mother  would  look  mourn- 
fully into  my  eyes  while  she  smoothed  back  the  yellow  hair 
from  my  forehead;  and  I  knew  that  she  would  willingly 
have  given  all  that  she  had  to  make  me  happy. 


36  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

On  my  twelfth  birthday  it  chanced  that  I  was  in  my 
father's  shop,  alone.  My  mother  had  gone  into  the  back 
room,  and  my  father  was  absent,  for  the  day,  at  the  residence 
of  a  distant  client.  I  had  been  trying  all  that  morning  to  find 
some  occupation  to  amuse  me,  but  without  success;  I  had 
finally  given  myself  up  to  a  restless  and  discontented  idle- 
ness; and  at  the  moment  I  was  examining  in  my  hand,  with- 
out much  interest,  a  long  chain,  of  extremely  fine  gold  and 
delicate  workmanship,  which  I  had  picked  up  from  one  of 
the  cabinets  in  the  shop.  I  was  in  the  act  of  placing  it  back 
in  its  case,  wondering  what  I  should  do  next,  when  a  strange 
figure  entered  the  door  from  the  street,  and  approached  me. 

A  Tattered  Old  Beggar  Comes  to  the  Goldsmith's  Shop 

It  was  an  old  man,  evidently  a  beggar,  a  huge  man,  fat 
and  heavy,  his  face  covered  by  a  gray  beard  which  hung  to 
his  waist,  and  his  eyes,  which  were  very  bright,  almost 
hidden  by  shaggy  eyebrows, — the  longest  eyebrows  I  had 
ever  seen  on  any  human  being.  A  ragged  tunic  of  brown, 
belted  around  the  middle,  hung  scantily  to  his  knees ;  a  bat- 
tered felt  hat  flapped  over  his  forehead;  and  in  his  hand  he 
carried,  for  a  staff,  what  seemed  to  be  a  yardstick,  such  as 
tailors  use.  From  his  belt  hung  a  pair  of  large  shears,  also 
of  the  sort  used  by  tailors.  A  queer  tailor !  thought  I. 

"Good  morning,  master  Melancholy,"  said  he,  "have  you 
a  mind  for  trade  this  morning?" 

The  idea  of  this  poor  creature's  pretending  to  be  a  cus- 
tomer at  such  a  shop  as  ours  was  too  absurd.  I  could  not 
restrain  a  little  toss  of  the  head. 


"There  is  something  here,"  said  the  old  beggar,  "which  I  wish  to  buy" 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     37 

"So?"  said  the  old  man.  "Is  that  what  you  think? 
Nevertheless,  there  is  something  here  which  I  wish  to  buy." 
He  looked  around  the  shop.  "I  wish  to  buy  a  chain,  a  gold 
one ;  and  I  see  none  that  pleases  me  so  much  as  the  one  you 
are  holding  behind  your  back.  Will  you  sell  it?" 

I  was  astonished  that  he  should  have  discovered  the  chain, 
which  I  could  have  sworn  was  hidden  from  his  eyes.  I  drew 
it  forth  and  held  it  up. 

"Be  so  good  as  to  let  me  see  it,"  said  the  old  man;  and 
at  the  same  time  he  took  it  from  me,  before  I  could  snatch 
it  away. 

"What  may  the  price  be,  my  young  merchant?"  said  he. 

I  was  trembling  with  anxiety,  but  I  thought  it  best  to  end 
the  whole  matter  by  naming  the  price,  which  I  found  on  the 
card  which  remained  in  the  cabinet. 

While  I  hesitated,  the  horrid  creature  gazed  at  me  with 
his  glittering  eyes  through  his  tangled  eyebrows,  and  ran  his 
fingers  down  his  beard  like  a  comb. 

"The  price,"  I  said,  "is  four  thousand  gold  florins.  Now 
please  give  me  back  the  chain." 

"The  price  is  high,"  said  the  old  man,  "but  I  will  take  it." 

"Then  give  me  the  money,"  said  I. 

"Money?"  said  he,  with  an  air  of  great  surprise. 
"Money?  But  I  have  no  money." 

"Then  how  are  you  going  to  buy  the  chain?"  said  I. 
"Give  it  back  to  me." 

"I  will  buy  it,  nevertheless,"  said  he.  "I  will  give  you 
what  is  better  than  money." 

"What  is  that?"  said  I,  suspiciously. 


38  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"I  will  give  you,"  said  he,  "whatever  you  would  like  best 
in  the  world." 

"Then  give  me  back  the  chain." 

"Think !"  said  he.  "What  would  you  like  best  in  all  the 
world,  for  your  very  self?" 

"Nothing,"  I  said,  ready  to  cry.  "I  want  the  chain  back. 
If  you  don't  give  it  to  me,"  I  said,  angrily,  "I  will  call  my 
mother." 

"With  all  the  pleasure  in  the  world,"  said  the  impudent 
old  rascal. 

I  was  now  ready  to  cry  in  good  earnest. 

The  Old  Man  Proposes  a  Strange  Bargain 

"But  I  advise  you  to  listen  to  me,  my  young  friend,"  went 
on  the  dreadful  creature.  "You  may  make  a  wish,  if  you 
will;  and  if  you  don't,  I  will.  If  I  keep  the  chain,  you  shall 
make  the  wish;  if  you  keep  the  chain,  I  will  make  it;  but  I 
warn  you,  if  I  make  the  wish,  I  shall  wish  you  harm !  such 
harm  that  you  would  rather  be  dead  than  alive!  Come 
now,  will  you  sell  me  the  chain  for  a  wish?" 

"I  can't,"  I  said,  "I  can't."    And  I  began  to  cry. 

"Then  you  would  like  to  be  crippled  all  your  life?  To 
find  vipers  in  your  bed  every  night?  To  see  the  Princess  run 
away  from  the  sight  of  you?  To  suffer  a  sharp  pain  in  your 
ears,  to  have  all  your  drink  turn  to — " 

"No,  no !"  I  cried.    "Please  don't,  please  don't !" 

"Then  you  had  better  sell  me  the  chain.  What  would  you 
like  best  in  the  world?" 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     39 

"Oh,  I  want  to  be  happy!  I  want  to  be  happy!  I'm  so 
miserable !" 

"You  really  wish  to  be  happy?" 

"Oh,  yes!     If  I  could  only  be  happy,  always  happy!" 

"Think  well.  I  can  grant  you  that  wish,  if  you  really 
wish  it." 

"I  wish  I  could  be  happy,  always  happy!" 

"The  wish  is  granted.  You  shall  be  happy;  after  this  day 
you  shall  be  nothing  but  happy,  always.  It  is  done.  The 
chain  is  mine." 

"Oh,  please!  If  you  will  only  wait  one  moment!  Just 
one!  I  must  call  my  mother  1" 

I  ran  to  the  door  of  the  back  room,  and  called  my 
mother.  She  came  at  once,  alarmed  by  my  outcry.  To- 
gether we  turned  back  into  the  shop,  toward  the  spot  where 
I  had  left  the  old  man.  He  was  gone. 

I  dragged  my  mother  to  the  shop  door,  and  we  looked  up 
and  down  the  street.  There  was  no  sign  of  him.  I  ran  from 
one  corner  to  the  other.  He  was  nowhere  in  sight.  I 
returned  to  my  mother  and  threw  myself  on  her  breast  and 
wept. 

"The  chain  I"  I  sobbed.    "It  is  gone !" 

While  she  tried  to  comfort  me  I  told  her  the  story.  She 
wrung  her  hands.  "What  will  your  father  say?" 

That  evening,  when  my  father  heard  what  had  hap- 
pened, he  was  very  angry.  He  was  a  kind  man,  but  he 
scolded  me  so  severely  that  I  crept  up  to  bed  weeping,  with- 
out any  supper.  I  had  never  been  so  miserable,  I  cried  my- 
self to  sleep. 


40  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

When  I  awoke  in  the  morning,  sunshine  was  streaming 
in  through  the  window.  I  sprang  out  of  bed.  A  fat  spar- 
row was  hopping  on  the  window  sill,  and  when  he  saw 
me  he  cocked  his  head  at  me  in  the  jolliest  manner  pos- 
sible. I  whistled  to  him,  and  laughed  after  him  as  he  flew 
away. 

While  I  was  dressing,  and  humming  a  tune  the  while,  I 
suddenly  remembered  that  I  had  gone  to  bed  in  tears  for  the 
loss  of  my  father's  golden  chain;  but  I  laughed  as  I  thought 
of  it,  for  the  loss  seemed  pitifully  small,  and  my  father's 
anger  over  it  was  quite  ridiculous.  I  went  on  with  my  tune, 
and  stood  before  the  mirror  with  a  hairbrush  in  my  hand. 
I  began  to  brush  my  hair;  and  I  cannot  deny  that  as  I  looked 
at  its  yellow  and  somewhat  curly  abundance  I  thought  of 
the  Princess  with  complacency. 

Now  it  happened  that  the  most  serious  work  of  my  life, 
on  which  I  had  then  been  engaged  for  more  than  six  months, 
had  been  the  training  of  my  hair  to  lie  in  a  flat  sweep  back- 
ward from  my  forehead.  I  had  devoted  much  patient  labor 
to  this  work;  it  required  that  I  should  wear  on  my  head  all 
day  a  tight  skullcap,  and  I  even  suffered  to  the  extent  of 
wearing  it  in  bed  at  night,  when  I  could  do  so  without  my 
mother's  knowledge.  I  now  shook  my  hair  from  my  fore- 
head with  a  quick  backward  toss  of  the  head,  in  a  manner 
which  always  made  my  father  look  at  me  in  alarm,  and 
proceeded  to  brush  it  straight  back  with  vigorous  strokes 
of  the  brush. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     41 

The  Three  Black  Hairs  in  the  Yellow  Head 

I  was  in  the  act  of  applying  a  small  quantity  of  dry  soap, 
when  I  looked  at  my  yellow  head  in  the  mirror  a  trifle  more 
attentively.  My  gaze  became  fixed;  and  as  I  held  my  head 
close  to  the  glass  I  was  astonished  to  see  there,  among  the 
yellow  strands,  three  coarse  black  hairs,  very  distinct,  one 
in  the  middle  and  one  on  either  side. 

They  did  not  suit  me  very  well,  and  I  accordingly,  with 
some  trouble,  plucked  each  of  them  out  by  the  root. 

Before  leaving  the  room,  I  gave  a  final  glance  of  satis- 
faction at  myself  in  the  mirror,  and  a  final  touch  of  the  brush 
to  my  hair.  I  stopped  suddenly,  fixed  with  astonishment; 
the  three  long,  coarse  black  hairs,  which  I  had  but  a  few 
moments  before  plucked  away,  lay  there  as  before,  one  in 
the  middle  of  my  head  and  one  on  either  side. 

I  could  not  understand  it  in  the  least,  but  after  all,  what 
did  it  matter?  I  could  not  allow  myself  to  be  bothered  by 
such  a  trifle.  I  ran  downstairs  singing  merrily. 

At  breakfast,  I  found  myself  prattling  of  a  thousand 
things,  and  I  was  surprised  to  remark  the  confusion  with 
which  my  parents  received  my  sallies.  In  the  midst  of  my 
talk,  my  mother  whispered  with  sudden  excitement  into  my 
father's  ear;  I  did  not  hear  what  she  said,  but  I  saw  his 
eyebrows  rise  and  heard  him  blow  out  his  lips  in  a  long- 
drawn  "O-oh!"  as  if  a  light  had  dawned  on  him.  And 
after  that  they  responded  gayly  to  my  chatter,  and  we  had 
altogether  the  merriest  meal  we  had  ever  had  in  our  lives. 

After  breakfast  I  accompanied  my  father  to  the  castle, 


42  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

where  I  sought  out  the  Princess  Hyla,  and  found  her  weep- 
ing beside  one  of  the  fountains  in  the  garden,  because  her 
ball  had  fallen  into  the  water  which  filled  the  wide  marble 
basin.  I  laughed  at  her,  for  she  did  seem  comical  enough. 
She  stamped  her  foot  angrily  at  me,  but  this  only  made  me 
laugh  the  more.  I  jumped  into  the  pool  and  brought  back 
the  ball.  She  looked  at  me  as  if  in  bewilderment,  and  cried, 
"What  are  you  laughing  at?  Are  you  crazy?"  Far  from  be- 
ing offended,  I  laughed  more  merrily  than  before. 

The  King  was  much  pleased  with  my  little  service  to  the 
Princess,  and  after  our  departure  my  father  assured  me 
that  I  had  advanced  markedly  in  the  King's  regard.  Every- 
thing, in  short,  was  going  well. 

From  that  day,  my  unfailing  spirits  rejoiced  my  parents 
more  and  more  as  time  went  by;  their  house  rang  with  my 
merriment;  my  mother  became  more  youthful  in  appear- 
ance; and  as  I  grew  older  I  became  known  throughout  our 
city  for  the  brightness  of  my  face  and  the  liveliness  of  my 
talk,  and  I  was  everywhere  in  demand.  It  is  true  that  the 
three  long  black  hairs  continued  in  their  places  on  my  head, 
and  my  mother  looked  at  them  at  times,  as  it  seemed  to  me, 
with  uneasiness;  but  I  laughed  at  her;  and  although  I  some- 
times plucked  these  hairs  from  my  head,  I  did  so  only  for 
the  amusement  of  seeing  them  reappear  in  their  places  as 
before. 

Alb  Wins  the  Promise  of  the  Princess's  Hand 

When  I  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  a  circumstance  befell 
which  I  was  able  to  turn  to  good  account.  The  Princess 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     43 

Hyla  one  night  unaccountably  disappeared.  The  King  was 
strangely  disturbed  by  this  incident,  and  though  I  could  not 
quite  understand  the  reason  for  so  much  perturbation,  I  re- 
solved to  rescue  the  Princess  and  restore  her  to  her  father's 
arms,  if  I  could.  This  I  was  able  to  do,  in  the  course  of  a 
very  singular  adventure,  and  in  reward  the  King  promised 
me  her  hand  in  marriage.  I  will  now  relate  to  you,  if  you 
wish  it,  the  adventure  by  which  I  rescued  the  Princess  from 
the  strange  fate  which  involved  her;  it  is  the  adventure,  as 
I  may  call  it,  of 

THE  RAGPICKER  AND  THE  PRINCESS 

It  happened  (said  Alb  the  Fortunate)  that  the  King,  with 
his  daughter,  sojourned  for  a  time  at  his  castle  of  Venta- 
mere,  beside  the  Great  Sea ;  and  my  father  and  myself,  being 
lodged  in  the  town  hard  by, — 

"On  second  thoughts"  said  Solario,  interrupting  himself, 
"I  will  not  relate  this  tale  just  now.  It  is  too  long.  It  will 
be  better  to  go  on  with — " 

"But  we'd  like  to  hear  it  now,"  said  Bojohn. 

"No"  said  Solario,  firmly,  "it  will  be  much  better  to  tell 
it  some  other  time." 

Thus  (said  Alb,  when  he  had  finished  the  story  of  his 
adventure),  I  restored  the  Princess,  with  the  assistance  of 
the  One-Armed  Sorcerer  whom  I  have  mentioned,  and  in 
gratitude  the  King  took  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer  to  dwell 
with  him  in  his  castle  in  our  own  city,  and  promised  to  me 
the  hand  of  the  Princess  in  marriage  when  I  should  come  of 
age.  Truly  things  were  going  well  with  me. 


44  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

A  Trifling  Incident  Disturbs  Alb's  Mother 
Some  two  years  later,  when  I  was  just  past  my  eighteenth 
birthday,  an  incident  occurred  in  our  household  which 
caused  my  mother  much  disturbance.  My  father  died.  He 
had  left  the  house  on  horseback  in  the  morning,  for  a 
journey  to  the  country  on  a  matter  pertaining  to  his  business. 
In  the  evening,  after  the  shop  was  closed,  a  loud  knock 
brought  my  mother  and  myself  to  the  door  in  haste.  A 
crowd  was  gathered  at  the  entrance,  and  on  a  litter  carried 
by  two  men  lay  my  father's  body;  and  in  this  manner  he  was 
borne  into  the  shop.  His  horse  had  thrown  him  and  his 
neck  was  broken. 

My  mother  threw  herself  upon  him  and  wailed.  She  tried 
to  arouse  him ;  she  talked  to  him  as  if  he  were  alive ;  she  even 
went  so  far  as  to  try  to  call  him  back  to  life.  I  was  at  first 
greatly  astonished  at  her  behavior,  and  then  it  struck  me  as 
being  excessively  ridiculous.  To  think  of  trying  to  call 
back  the  dead  to  life !  It  was  highly  amusing.  I  felt  a  tide 
of  merriment  rising  within  me.  I  laughed. 

I  have  never  seen  on  any  human  being's  face  the  look 
of  horror  which  my  mother  turned  on  me  when  she  heard 
my  laugh.  She  crouched  away  from  me  in  fear.  Her  sob- 
bing ceased,  and  her  eyes  remained  fixed  on  me;  they  grew 
wider  and  wider;  I  began  to  wonder  how  long  they  could 
stare  so  without  winking.  I  glanced  at  the  others  in  the 
room,  and  was  surprised  to  see  that  no  one  else  even  so  much 
as  smiled.  It  was  useless  to  remain  longer  in  a  company  so 
dead  to  the  brighter  things  of  life.  I  controlled  my  good 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     45 

humor  and  composed  my  features,  and  patted  my  mother 
affectionately  on  the  shoulder;  but  she  recoiled  from  my 
touch;  and  without  appearing  to  take  her  inconsiderate  be- 
havior in  ill  part  in  the  least,  I  left  the  room. 

Unreasonable  Conduct  of  the  Goldsmith's  Widow 

It  astonished  me  afterward  to  observe  that  my  mother 
met  my  customary  gayety  with  coldness,  for  she  had  always 
seemed  to  take  great  pleasure  in  it.  She  grew  very  gloomy 
indeed.  I  could  not  discover  any  reason  for  it,  but  I  did 
what  I  could  to  cheer  her  by  my  own  liveliness.  For  some 
reason  or  other,  my  father's  death  appeared  to  have  a  de- 
pressing effect  on  her.  I  made  my  jokes  and  sang  my  songs 
as  usual,  but  she  reached  such  a  state  in  a  few  months  that 
she  would  scarcely  speak  to  me,  but  on  the  contrary  spent 
most  of  her  time  in  her  room,  alone. 

I  noticed,  in  the  course  of  time,  a  slight  change  in  the 
manner  of  my  customers  and  friends.  The  former  trans- 
acted their  business  briefly,  without  an  unnecessary  word; 
and  the  latter  appeared  to  avoid  me,  as  if  they  scarcely 
wished  to  know  me  any  longer.  It  was  very  amusing. 

In  less  than  a  year  after  my  father's  death,  my  mother 
died.  It  was  thought  by  some  that  my  father's  death  had 
something  to  do  with  her  decline,  but  how  that  could  be  I 
never  could  understand. 

The  Merrymakers  Are  Suddenly  Sobered 

The  night  of  the  day  on  which  she  died  was  the  night 
fixed  for  a  feast  at  the  house  of  one  of  my  friends.  After 


46  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

looking  for  a  moment  into  the  room  where  she  lay,  I  dressed 
myself  carefully  for  the  occasion,  and  found  myself  thrilled 
with  pleasant  anticipation. 

A  large  and  merry  company  met  at  table  at  my  friend's 
house;  I  talked  in  my  best  manner;  and  whatever  coldness  I 
might  have  observed  before  was  dispelled  in  the  general 
gayety.  Toward  the  close  of  the  banquet,  I  chanced  to 
remark  across  the  table  that  my  mother  had  that  day  died. 
The  effect  of  this  remark  was  astonishing.  As  it  passed 
from  one  to  another,  silence  fell  upon  the  company. 

I  wondered  if  I  had  made  some  blunder.  I  endeavored 
in  vain  to  relieve  the  awkwardness  of  the  moment  by  chang- 
ing the  subject  and  commencing  a  story  with  which  I  had 
never  failed  to  provoke  a  laugh;  but  in  this  case  it  provoked 
not  so  much  as  a  smile;  I  was  absolutely  perplexed.  The 
party  soon  broke  up  in  what  appeared  to  be  confusion, 
and  I  went  home  to  enjoy  in  my  own  room  the  recollection 
of  those  lugubrious  faces. 

When  I  was  twenty-one,  I  was  married  to  the  Princess, 
and  thenceforth  the  castle  was  my  home.  I  sold  the  business 
which  my  father  had  left  me,  and  settled  down  to  a  life 
of  unbounded  bliss  with  my  dear  Hyla,  whom  as  a  wife  I 
found  even  more  adorable  than  I  had  dreamed. 

I  became  the  life  of  the  castle.  The  faces  of  my  new 
acquaintances  always  brightened  in  my  company;  I  was  the 
only  one  in  that  glittering  society  who  never  knew  a  dull 
or  uneasy  moment;  my  presence  was  like  a  ray  of  sunshine 
in  the  court. 

I  noticed  after  a  while  that  the  Princess,  my  wife,  began 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     47 

to  respond  to  my  constant  gayety  more  carelessly;  at  times 
she  would  sit  and  look  at  me  vvonderingly,  I  knew  not  why. 

One  day  she  asked  me  to  accompany  her  on  a  little  excur- 
sion in  the  city.  She  did  not  tell  me  where  she  meant  to  go, 
but  I  asked  nothing;  it  was  enough  to  be  with  her.  I  could 
not  conceal  my  surprise,  however,  when  she  stopped  our  car- 
riage at  the  entrance  to  the  city's  poorest  quarter;  but  I 
had  no  doubt  she  had  planned  some  pleasant  diversion,  and 
I  followed  her,  talking  in  my  liveliest  manner  all  the  while. 
She  herself  was  quite  silent. 

She  led  me  from  one  hovel  to  another,  for  more  than  an 
hour.  In  one  we  saw  a  sick  child  lying  on  a  pallet  of  straw 
on  a  dirt  floor,  and  around  him  his  mother  and  sisters  and 
brothers,  all  weeping  absurdly;  I  rallied  the  mother  on  it  in 
the  pleasantest  way  possible,  but  she  did  not  take  it  in  very 
good  part.  In  another  we  found  an  old  man,  blind  and 
alone,  without  food  and  without  wife  or  child,  talking  to 
himself  in  a  gibberish  which  was  truly  laughable;  I  tried, 
for  sport,  to  talk  to  him  in  the  same  sort  of  gibberish,  but 
though  it  was  excellent  sport,  I  saw  that  for  some  reason  or 
other  it  did  not  amuse  my  wife,  so  I  led  her  away.  In 
another  place  we  saw  a  man  who  was  evidently  overcome  by 
wine,  and  who  appeared  to  be  in  terror  of  certain  vipers 
and  spiders  which,  as  I  ascertained,  existed  nowhere  but  in 
his  own  imagination.  This  man  was  the  prize  of  the  whole 
collection;  I  amused  myself  with  him  for  a  long  time;  and 
I  was  altogether  so  greatly  diverted  that  the  Princess  had 
some  difficulty  in  dragging  me  away. 

On  the  way  home,  I  commented  on  what  we  had  seen  with 


48  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

a  drollery  which  I  had  thought  sufficient  to  draw  a  smile 
from  a  stone;  but  the  Princess  was  unmoved;  she  sat  in 
stony  silence,  and  when  we  reached  the  castle  she  went  at 
once  to  her  room,  and  I  saw  her  no  more  that  day. 

Not  long  afterward,  a  beautiful  boy  was  born  to  us;  and 
in  course  of  time  he  grew  to  be  the  finest  child  of  his  age 
in  the  Island  Kingdom ;  there  were  many  who  said  so,  even 
to  his  mother. 

He  was  two  years  of  age,  when  on  a  certain  day  in  sum- 
mer his  mother  sent  him  into  the  gardens  with  a  nurse,  while 
she  remained  with  me  in  conversation  in  her  room.  Some 
half  hour  later,  I  was  telling  her  an  amusing  story,  which 
I  had  recently  heard,  when  the  door  burst  open,  and  a  man- 
servant rushed  into  the  room  carrying  our  boy,  dripping 
wet,  in  his  arms,  and  laid  him  in  his  mother's  lap.  The 
child  was  dead.  The  nurse  had  left  him  beside  the  same 
fountain  pool  from  which  years  before  I  had  rescued  his 
mother's  ball,  and  in  her  absence  he  had  fallen  into  the 
water.  The  Princess  turned  pale  and  screamed;  she  clasped 
the  child  to  her  breast  and  rocked  him  back  and  forth ;  she 
spoke  to  him  as  if  he  were  still  alive,  and  even  tried  to  call 
him  back  to  life. 

I  smiled  at  her  delusion.  I  put  my  hand  on  her  shoulder 
and  shook  her  gently.  She  looked  up  at  me  with  streaming 
eyes,  and  saw  the  bright  and  smiling  look  on  my  own  face. 

"Come,  my  dear,"  I  said  kindly,  laughing  quietly  as  I 
spoke,  "there  is  no  use  talking  to  him  like  that,  you  know. 
You  must  be  reasonable.  The  dear  little  fellow  is  dead,  that 
is  all.  Surely  there  is  nothing  in  that  to  disturb  you  ?  Look 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     49 

at  me.  I'm  not  disturbed.  I  can't  understand  what  you 
find  in  this  to  bother  you.  Come,  let  the  good  man  take  him 
away  to  another  room,  and  I  will  go  on  with  the  story  I  was 
telling  when  we  were  interrupted." 

She  rose  slowly,  never  taking  her  eyes  from  me,  and 
hugging  the  child  closer  backed  away  from  me,  and  sud- 
denly turned  and  fled  from  the  room.  I  smiled  to  myself  at 
the  whimsical  nature  of  women. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  she  would  speak  to  me;  and 
although  I  did  not  permit  this  to  ruffle  me,  I  waited  with 
some  impatience  for  her  explanation.  I  was  of  course 
reluctant  to  blame  her  too  much  without  giving  her  an  op- 
portunity of  explaining  her  conduct.  I  was  accordingly 
pleased  when  she  took  me  aside  one  day  and  asked  to  speak 
with  me  in  private.  She  sat  down  before  me  in  her  room 
and  looked  me  steadily  in  the  eyes. 

The  Princess  Finds  Her  Husband  Bewitched 

"Alb,"  said  she,  "this  can  go  on  no  longer.  You  are  be- 
witched." 

I  smiled  indulgently.     "I  am  not  aware  of  it,"  I  said. 

"Tell  me,"  she  said,  earnestly,  "what  are  those  three 
black  hairs  in  your  head?" 

"Oh,  those !  They  are  nothing.  I  found  them  there 
after  the  old  beggar  had  pretended  to  grant  me  a  wish, 
long  ago." 

"What  old  beggar?  Now  I  am  learning  something! 
Tell  me  about  the  old  beggar  and  the  wish !" 


50  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"What  does  it  matter?  He  was  a  ragged  old  fellow, 
with  shaggy  eyebrows,  carrying  a  yardstick  and  tailor's 
shears,  and  I  sold  him  a  fine  gold  chain  for  a  wish,  and 
right  angry  my  father  was,  too.  But  I  was  only  twelve 
years  old,  you  know." 

"Why  have  you  never  told  me  this  before?  What  was 
the  wish?" 

"The  wish?  Oh,  I  wished — I  wished  I  might  be  per- 
fectly happy,  always; — always  happy; — a  pretty  good  wish, 
I  think." 

"A  terrible  wish !  A  frightful  wish !  Tell  me — tell  me 
— have  you  ever  wept  since  you  were  twelve  years  old?" 

"Of  course  not.  How  absurd.  There  has  never  been 
anything  for  me  to  weep  about." 

"That's  it!  That's  it!  That's  the  curse!  You  can't 
weep !  You  've  got  to  be  cured  of  happiness !  Cured  of 
happiness!" 

This  idea  was  so  preposterous  that  I  laughed  loud  and 
long;  but  while  I  was  still  laughing  she  took  me  by  the 
hand  and  led  me  into  a  distant  part  of  the  castle,  where  I 
had  never  been  before,  until  we  came  to  the  foot  of  a 
narrow,  winding  stair  in  a  tall  tower. 

We  climbed  the  stairs,  and  stopped  at  last,  panting,  on 
a  little  landing  before  a  door.  The  Princess  knocked,  and 
without  waiting  for  an  answer  opened  the  door  and  drew 
me  in  after  her.  We  were  in  a  small,  circular  room,  evi- 
dently at  the  very  top  of  the  tower,  from  the  windows 
of  which  I  could  see  far  across  the  city  and  beyond  the 
distant  mountains  to  the  Great  Sea. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     51 

Alb  and  the  Princess  Visit  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer 

In  the  center  of  this  room  was  a  spinning  wheel,  and 
before  this  spinning  wheel  was  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer 
whom  I  had  met  in  the  adventure  which  had  gained  me 
the  Princess  for  my  wife ;  a  spare  old  man,  with  bright  blue 
eyes  in  a  rosy  face  and  long  white  hair  and  beard,  and 
clothed  in  a  blue  gown  spangled  with  silver  stars.  He 
rose,  smiling  at  us  kindly,  and  motioning  us  with  his  only 
hand  (his  left)  to  sit  down;  and  when  we  were  seated, 
the  Princess  told  him  the  story  of  the  old  vagabond  who 
had  granted  me  a  wish. 

He  nodded  understandingly,  and  the  Princess  said:  "We 
have  come  to  you  for  help.  Will  you  help  him  get  rid 
of  his  curse?" 

I  laughed  merrily.  "I'm  pretty  well  satisfied  as  I  am,"  I 
said.  "I  don't  wish  to  be  cured  of  anything." 

"And  yet,"  said  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer,  "you  ought  to 
want  to  be  cured.  Your  trouble  is,  that  you  can't  weep. 
Let  me  tell  you  something.  When  people  can  weep,  it 's 
because  there  's  some  good  in  them.  When  they  can't 
weep,  it's  because  all  the  good  in  them  is  frozen  up  hard. 
Nobody  can  weep  all  the  time,  any  more  than  anybody  can 
be  happy  all  the  time,  unless  it 's  a  bewitched  creature  like 
yourself.  I  'm  not  sure  which  would  be  worse,  to  weep 
all  the  time  or  to  be  happy  all  the  time ;  but  one  thing  I  'm 
sure  of,  and  that  is  that  it 's  best  for  us  all  to  have  a  little 
weeping  and  a  little  happiness,  sometimes  the  one  and 
sometimes  the  other,  woven  together  in  all  shades  of  light 


52  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

and  dark;  and  if  you  want  to  come  out  in  a  beautiful  pat- 
tern at  last,  there  's  no  other  way  to  do  it.  Laugh  and 
weep ;  weep  and  laugh ;  that 's  the  whole  story,  and  a  fine 
story  it  is  too,  and  well  worth  having  a  part  in." 

"Oh!"  cried  the  Princess,  who  was  now  weeping  softly, 
"will  you  help  him  to  have  a  part  in  it  like  the  rest  of  us?" 

"I  'm  very  comfortable  as  I  am,"  said  I,  smiling. 

"Do  you  know,"  said  the  Princess,  "how  to  cure  him?" 

"I  can  tell  him  how  to  cure  himself,"  said  the  sorcerer. 

"Then  please  tell  us  at  once !"  said  the  Princess. 

"There  is  danger  in  it,"  said  the  sorcerer. 

"Danger  doesn't  bother  me,"  said  I,  beginning  to  take 
an  interest. 

"Good,"  said  the  sorcerer.  "Then  I  will  tell  you.  Have 
you  ever  heard  of  the  half-moon  pasture  of  Korbi,  by  the 
river  Tarn?" 

Neither  of  us  had  ever  heard  of  it. 

"It  lies  far  beyond  the  Great  Sea.  Would  you  like 
to  make  a  journey  there?" 

"That  would  be  jolly!"  I  cried. 

"The  half-moon  pasture  of  Korbi  is  the  end  of  your 
journey,  where  you  will  get  rid  of  the  third  black  hair, 
and  be  cured." 

"What?"  I  cried  in  astonishment. 

"Yes,  the  third  of  the  three  black  hairs  in  your  head." 

I  had  forgotten  all  about  them.  Certainly  this  was  a 
knowing  old  sorcerer. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     53 

The  Old  Man  of  Ice,  the  Laughing  Nymph,  and  the 
Great  Horned  Owl 

"I  will  tell  you,"  he  went  on,  "what  those  three  black 
hairs  are.  The  one  on  the  left  side  of  your  head  is  the 
Old  Man  of  Ice,  who  lives  in  the  Great  Cave  near  the  top 
of  Thunder  Mountain,  in  this  very  island.  The  one  on  the 
right  side  of  your  head  is  the  Laughing  Nymph  who  lives 
in  the  Three-Spire  Rock  on  the  farther  shore  of  the  Great 
Sea.  The  one  in  the  middle  of  your  head  is  the  Great 
Horned  Owl,  whose  feathers  are  scales  so  hard  that  no 
spear  can  pierce  them,  and  who  lives  at  the  top  of  the  cliff 
at  the  far  side  of  the  half-moon  pasture  of  Korbi.  You 
must  not  touch  the  Old  Man  of  Ice.  You  must  not  laugh 
with  the  Laughing  Nymph.  And  you  must  not  speak  when 
you  see  the  Great  Horned  Owl." 

"I  don't  like  this  very  much,"  said  the  Princess. 

"Nonsense,  my  dear,"  said  I.     "It  sounds  very  exciting." 

"Do  you  know  what  a  burning  glass  is?"  went  on  the 
sorcerer. 

"Yes,"  said  I. 

He  went  to  a  chest  beside  the  wall,  and  took  from  it  a 
small,  round,  thick  piece  of  glass,  and  placed  it  in  my  left 
hand. 

"There  is  only  one  thing  that  can  destroy  the  Old  Man 
of  Ice,  and  that  is  a  hot  beam  from  the  sun.  Before  you 
go  into  his  cave,  hold  this  burning  glass  with  your  left 
hand  up  to  the  sun.  The  rays  it  catches  will  remain  in 
it  for  seven  minutes,  and  no  longer;  and  if  you  can  then 


54  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

within  those  seven  minutes,  holding  the  glass  in  your  left 
hand,  fix  those  rays  on  the  Old  Man  of  Ice,  he  will  be 
destroyed,  and  you  will  get  rid  of  the  black  hair  on  the 
left  side  of  your  head." 

He  went  to  his  chest  again,  and  returning  put  into  my 
left  hand  a  sharp  brass  pin,  some  three  inches  in  length. 

"With  this  pin,"  he  said,  "you  must  make  the  Laugh- 
ing Nymph  weep.  You  must  plunge  it,  with  your  left 
hand,  deep  into  her  left  arm,  and  while  she  is  weeping 
you  must  flee  away;  and  thus  you  will  get  rid  of  the  black 
hair  on  the  right  side  of  your  head.  But  if  you  laugh 
with  her,  or  remain  until  she  stops  weeping,  you  will  never 
return." 

He  took  from  his  spinning  wheel  a  thread  some  yard 
and  a  half  long,  and  holding  it  in  his  teeth  made  fast  a 
large  loop  at  one  end.  He  then  placed  the  thread  in  my 
left  hand. 

"This  loop,"  he  said,  "you  must  throw  over  the  head 
of  the  Great  Horned  Owl  with  your  left  hand.  When 
you  have  done  so,  he  will  follow  you;  you  must  lead  him 
into  the  river  Tarn,  and  hold  him  there  until  he  drowns; 
and  thus  you  will  get  rid  of  the  black  hair  in  the  middle 
of  your  head,  and  be  cured  forever.  But  the  owl,  though 
he  is  blind  by  day,  has  very  sharp  ears.  You  must  not 
let  him  hear  your  voice." 

The  Burning  Glass,  the  Brass  Pin,  and  the  Loop  of  Thread 

He  then  gave  me  the  most  minute  directions  how  to 
reach  the  Great  Cave,  the  Three-Spire  Rock,  and  the  half- 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    55 

moon  pasture  of  Korbi ;  and  I  thereupon  placed  in  my  pocket 
the  burning  glass,  the  pin,  and  the  thread,  and  drew  the 
Princess  after  me  to  the  door  and  down  to  my  room,  where 
I  immediately  began  my  preparations  for  departure. 

That  night  I  left.  The  Princess  wept  on  my  shoulder, 
but  I  laughed  gayly,  and  ridiculed  her  fears. 

"Don't  you  feel  sorry,"  she  said,  "to  leave  me?" 

"Come,  dearest,"  I  said,  "you  mustn't  begrudge  me  a 
little  adventure.  Don't  be  selfish." 

She  straightened  herself  up.  "Yes,"  she  said,  "I  think 
you  had  better  go." 

I  did  not  understand  this  sudden  change,  but  I  kissed 
her  and  said: 

"Did  you  pack  my  white  leather  suit?" 

"Yes,  it  is  in  the  saddlebag,  and  extra  shoes.  Be  sure 
to  change  if  you  get  your  feet  wet." 

I  kissed  my  hand  to  her  from  the  saddle  and  gave  my 
horse  the  rein.  I  was  off  upon  my  adventure. 

At  the  end  of  two  days  I  came  to  the  village  which 
lies  at  the  foot  of  Thunder  Mountain.  It  was  a  bright 
day,  and  the  sun  was  hot.  As  I  trotted  briskly  through 
the  village  street,  a  child  of  three  or  four  years  ran  from 
the  door  of  a  house  directly  to  the  front  of  my  horse  and 
under  its  feet;  and  in  an  instant  the  horse  had  knocked 
him  down  and  trampled  over  his  body.  I  looked  round, 
and  heard  the  child  cry  out  in  pain;  but  I  was  intent  on 
what  lay  before  me,  and  too  happy  in  my  new  career  to 
be  bothered  with  trifles,  and  I  sped  on  rapidly,  and  was 
soon  well  up  the  mountainside. 


56  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

I  came  to  a  place  among  the  rocks  and  bushes  where 
there  was  no  longer  any  trail,  and  there  I  tied  my  horse 
and  left  him.  I  kept  in  view,  as  I  climbed  higher  and 
higher,  a  great,  gray  rock,  shaped  like  a  dome  and  as  big 
as  a  house,  which  projected  from  the  very  top  of  the 
mountain.  Under  this  rock,  as  I  knew,  lay  the  cave  of  the 
Man  of  Ice. 

The  higher  I  climbed,  the  steeper  grew  the  ascent;  trees 
became  fewer  and  at  length  there  were  none;  I  looked 
abroad  and  saw,  beyond  the  intervening  mountains,  the 
Great  Sea  afar  off,  wrinkling  in  the  sunshine.  I  came  at  last 
to  a  point  so  high  that  I  was  quite  dizzy  when  I  looked  down. 
Around  me  were  only  bowlders;  there  were  not  even  any 
bushes,  nor  birds  nor  squirrels;  nothing  but  rocks  and  sun- 
shine. 

He  Hears  Thunder  In  a  Clear  Sky 

I  stopped  suddenly  and  listened.  A  distant  rumble  of 
thunder  came  from  the  top  of  the  mountain.  I  was,  as 
I  may  say,  thunderstruck;  for  there  was  not  a  cloud  in  the 
sky.  As  I  mounted  higher,  the  rolling  of  thunder  be- 
came louder  and  louder;  and  when  I  reached,  as  I  did 
at  last  after  hours  of  toil,  the  dome-shaped  rock  at  the 
top,  thunder  crashed  all  about  me  with  a  deafening  roar, 
although  the  sky  remained  as  clear  as  before. 

I  halted  at  the  foot  of  the  great  rock,  and  commenced 
the  task  of  finding  the  entrance  to  the  cave.  The  surface 
of  the  rock  seemed  quite  unbroken;  but  I  found  at  length, 
near  the  ground,  a  single  crack,  about  an  inch  in  width. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    57 

I  inserted  my  fingers,  but  I  could  not  budge  it;  and  re- 
membering the  directions  given  me  by  the  sorcerer,  I  cried 
out,  "In  the  name  of  the  sun !  I  command  you,  open !" 

The  rock  beneath  the  crack  began  to  move,  and  be- 
fore my  astonished  eyes  it  fell  slowly  inward,  leaving  a 
gaping  hole,  just  wide  enough  to  admit  my  body. 

I  did  not  delay.  I  took  the  burning  glass  from  my  pocket 
and  held  it  up  in  my  left  hand  to  the  sun,  and  when  I 
thought  it  well  filled  with  the  sun's  rays  I  crawled  in 
through  the  hole.  When  I  was  inside,  the  opening  closed 
behind  me,  and  I  was  in  utter  darkness.  It  was  very  cold, 
and  the  noise  of  thunder  was  louder  than  before.  I 
was  surprised  to  see  at  a  little  distance  a  single  spot  of 
light,  which  flickered  here  and  there  as  I  crept  on;  but  I 
soon  observed  that  it  came  from  the  burning  glass  which 
I  was  still  holding  in  my  left  hand. 

He  Goes  Down  into  the  Cave  in  Thunder  Mountain 

I  was  aware  that  I  was  going  downward.  The  farther 
I  went,  the  louder  became  the  thunder.  I  must  have  de- 
scended thus  for  a  minute  or  two,  when  a  gust  of  cold 
air  swept  my  face,  and,  finding  the  floor  level,  I  stood 
up.  The  sound  of  thunder  was  now  deafening,  beyond 
anything  I  had  yet  heard. 

As  I  stood  there,  a  great  mass  of  what  appeared  to 
be  ice,  larger  than  my  body,  rolled  past  me  and  disap- 
peared in  the  darkness.  I  jumped  aside,  and  walked  on. 
In  another  moment  a  mass  of  ice  like  the  first  fell  at 
my  side  and  rolled  away;  a  rush  of  the  bitterest  cold  air 


58  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

accompanied  it;  and  as  it  struck  the  ground  a  crash  of  thun- 
der shook  the  place,  and  its  sound,  as  it  rolled  away  into 
the  dark,  was  the  sound  of  thunder  rumbling  afar  off  among 
the  mountains. 

I  now  understood  the  origin  of  the  thunder  I  had  heard 
in  the  clear  sunlight  outside.  I  pointed  my  burning  glass 
upward,  and  I  was  able  to  make  out  dimly,  in  the  ceiling, 
great  numbers  of  these  bodies  of  ice,  hanging  there  like 
stalactites,  but  rounded  at  the  bottom  and  very  slender 
at  the  top,  so  that  they  appeared  to  hang  by  little  more 
than  a  thread.  As  I  stumbled  on,  one  after  another  of 
these  fell  to  the  ground  with  a  crash  and  rolled  away 
with  a  decreasing  rumble.  There  was  no  telling  when  one 
of  them  might  fall  on  me,  and  I  could  only  trust  to  luck. 
There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  get  forward  as  quickly 
as  possible;  time  was  flying,  and  even  if  I  should  escape 
these  thunder  stones,  I  had  only  three  or  four  minutes  of 
my  seven  left.  I  darted  blindly  on,  and  the  ice  came  crash- 
ing about  me  faster  and  faster,  until  I  thought  my  head 
would  split  with  the  noise.  Once  or  twice  I  was  nearly 
struck.  How  I  escaped  I  do  not  know,  for  it  became 
certain  that  the  thunder  stones  were  dropping  closer  and 
closer  around  me,  as  if  they  were  trying  to  halt  me.  And 
all  the  time  the  cold  was  becoming  so  bitter  that  my  feet 
and  legs  were  already  numb. 

I  suddenly  found  myself  walking  on  a  slippery  film  of 
ice,  and  at  that  moment  I  knew  that  I  had  cleared  the 
chamber  of  thunder,  and  had  left  that  danger  behind  me; 
the  noise  abated  to  a  distant  rumbling. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     59 

The  ice  on  which  I  walked  was  very  thin,  and  at  every 
step  it  crackled  under  me;  and  I  could  just  make  out  the 
sound  of  the  rushing  beneath  it  of  a  torrent  of  water.  I 
stepped  lightly  and  quickly,  seeing  nothing  but  the  black- 
ness of  night  before  me.  I  ran.  The  ice  swayed  and 
crackled  and  ripped;  and  just  as  it  gave  way  under  me 
and  my  foot  plunged  in  the  freezing  water,  I  found  my- 
self again  on  the  solid  floor  of  the  cavern,  and  ran  with 
all  my  might.  I  could  see  nothing  of  walls  or  ceiling.  I 
was  lost  in  the  dark. 

In  another  moment  I  was  aware  of  a  kind  of  vague  pale- 
ness afar  off  before  me,  and  I  ran  in  that  direction.  As  I 
did  so,  the  paleness,  whatever  it  was,  moved  swiftly  to 
the  right,  and  I  changed  my  course  accordingly.  It  then 
moved  to  the  left,  and  as  fast  as  I  changed  my  course 
it  moved  also;  evidently  it  was  trying  to  avoid  me.  I 
gained  on  it,  and  it  seemed  then  to  try  to  pass  me  on  one 
side  and  get  in  my  rear;  but  I  was  too  quick  for  it,  and 
came  up  with  it  before  it  had  quite  passed  me.  I  came 
within  ten  feet  of  it,  and  saw  what  it  was. 

He  Pursues  the  Man  of  Ice  with  the  Burning  Glass 

It  was  the  Man  of  Ice.  He  was  running  about  like  a 
cornered  rat:  a  perfectly  formed  old  man,  his  face  and 
head  hairless,  and  his  whole  body  of  solid  ice.  He  ran 
jerkily;  I  could  hear  his  joints  crackle  as  he  ran;  and  he 
was  almost  transparent,  and  of  a  pale,  greenish  bright- 
ness. His  fingers  were  stiff  and  pointed,  like  icicles;  and 
his  eyes  were  like  little  white  marbles. 


60  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

When  he  found  that  he  could  not  pass  me,  he  ran  back 
into  the  cave;  but  we  were  evidently  near  its  rear  wall, 
and  in  a  moment  he  was  darting  back  and  forth  against 
this  wall,  for  all  the  world  like  a  cornered  rat.  I  kept  after 
him,  and  flashing  the  burning  glass  constantly  in  his  di- 
rection forced  him  at  last  into  a  corner.  He  turned  upon 
me  there,  and  stretched  out  his  long  stiff  fingers  and  made 
as  if  to  spring  upon  me.  I  knew  that  if  he  should  touch 
me  I  should  be  lost;  it  must  be  now  or  never;  I  turned  the 
burning  glass  full  upon  him,  and  before  he  could  spring  its 
little  spot  of  light  flickered  upon  the  center  of  his  breast. 

The  change  which  came  over  him  nearly  caused  me  to 
drop  the  glass.  The  top  of  his  head  melted  away  before 
my  eyes  and  dripped  down  over  his  ears;  his  eyes,  his 
nose,  his  cheeks,  his  chin,  turned  one  after  another  to 
water  and  flowed  down  over  his  shoulders,  and  as  I  moved 
the  beam  of  sunlight  lower  and  lower  he  slowly  melted 
away  from  shoulder  to  foot,  and  was  no  more  than  a  wet 
spot  on  the  floor. 

He  Commences  to  Make  His  Escape  from  the  Cave 

I  turned  swiftly  to  make  my  way  out  of  the  cave.  As 
1  did  so  the  light  from  my  burning  glass  went  out,  and 
the  cave  was  suddenly  flooded  with  pure  sunlight,  from 
what  source  I  could  not  make  out.  I  was  in  a  vast,  vaulted 
chamber,  which  I  did  not  remain  to  examine.  I  sped  to  a 
wide  opening  which  I  saw  before  me,  and  passing  through 
it  came  to  the  side  of  a  little  brook  bordered  with  golden- 
yellow  flowers.  I  waded  across  the  brook;  its  water  was 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    61 

as  warm  as  milk.  On  the  other  side  I  entered  the  thunder 
chamber,  now  well  lit  with  sunshine,  and  there  I  paused 
in  amazement.  It  was  in  perfect  silence.  The  air  was 
mild  and  balmy.  In  place  of  the  terrible  stones  of  ice, 
thick  green  vines  clung  to  the  ceiling.  I  gave  a  shout  of 
joy,  and  ran  to  a  little  opening  which  I  saw  on  the  farther 
side.  Through  this  I  crawled,  and  on  my  hands  and  knees 
ascended  the  passage  down  which  I  had  first  come,  and 
arrived  at  the  entrance  to  the  cave,  now  closed.  "Open  1" 
I  shouted.  uln  the  name  of  the  sun,  I  command  you, 
open!"  The  rock  fell  outward,  and  I  crawled  through 
into  the  light  of  day. 

I  had  gone  quite  a  mile  down  the  mountainside  before 
I  realized  that  there  was  no  sound  of  thunder;  I  looked 
up  at  the  top  of  the  mountain  and  paused  to  listen;  all 
was  silent,  sunny,  and  peaceful.  I  had  accomplished  my 
first  adventure  with  complete  success. 

When  I  reached  the  village  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
my  first  thought  was  of  the  child  whom  my  horse  had  in- 
jured earlier  in  the  day.  I  dismounted,  and  after  a  few 
moments'  inquiry  found  where  he  lived.  I  was  admitted 
to  the  house  by  his  mother,  who  led  me  to  an  inner  room, 
where  I  beheld  on  a  chair  by  a  window  an  unusually  charm- 
ing little  fellow,  with  his  left  arm  in  a  splint.  I  sat  down 
before  him  and  took  him  on  my  lap  and  held  him  care- 
fully in  my  arms.  He  took  to  me  at  once;  and  I  was 
pleased  to  feel,  as  his  warm  little  body  pressed  close  to 
me,  a  decided  warmth  creep  slowly  and  gently  into  my 
own  heart.  I  forced  the  mother,  who  was  poor,  to  accept 


62  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

from  me  the  only  amends  I  could  make :  a  purse  of  gold 
from  my  belt,  bestowed  with  a  warm  shake  of  the  hand. 
As  I  said  good-by,  I  glanced  at  the  mirror  which  hung 
upon  the  wall.  I  went  up  to  it,  and  looked  more  intently. 
The  black  hair  which  had  been  on  the  left  side  of  my 
head  was  gone. 

I  pressed  on  the  same  night,  and  arrived  in  due  time 
at  the  town  of  Ventamere,  on  the  shore  of  the  Great  Sea. 
I  bought  a  boat,  not  too  large  to  be  handled  by  a  single 
man,  and  rigged  with  a  single  sail  of  a  charming  orange 
color,  somewhat  patched  with  blue. 

Like  all  the  islanders,  I  knew  well  how  to  manage  a 
boat,  and  I  could  see  that  my  little  bark  was  entirely  sea- 
worthy. I  provisioned  her  for  a  long  voyage,  being  mind- 
ful, of  course,  of  the  return.  With  a  light  and  favorable 
wind  above  and  an  ebbing  tide,  I  set  sail. 

He  Sails  Across  the  Great  Sea 

As  I  cleared  the  bay  and  encountered  the  long,  smooth 
roll  of  the  Great  Sea,  I  thought,  sitting  with  my  hand  on 
the  tiller,  of  the  dear  Princess  whom  I  had  left  behind 
me.  I  remembered  that  I  had  charged  her  with  selfish- 
ness, and  I  began  to  doubt  whether  I  had  been  altogether 
just.  For  the  first  time  within  my  memory,  I  felt  a  little 
uneasy  on  the  subject  of  my  own  conduct.  However,  this 
shadow  lasted  only  a  moment.  I  sang  as  I  sailed. 

The  weather  was  superb,  and  the  sea,  under  moderate 
winds,  never  rose  above  a  long  and  quiet  swell.  During 
the  entire  voyage  there  was  nothing  more  exciting  than 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     63 

an  occasional  gull  on  easy  wing  circling  about  the  peak  of 
my  mast,  and  the  flying  fish  now  and  then  skimming  low 
across  the  surface  of  the  sea. 

As  I  neared  the  far  shore  of  the  Great  Sea,  the  green 
of  the  water  became  a  deep  indigo,  and  I  could  not  but 
rejoice  in  the  lovely  effect  amidst  that  expanse  of  rich  color 
of  the  orange  of  my  sail.  I  had  held  the  course  pre- 
scribed by  the  sorcerer,  and  I  knew  that  I  should  pick 
up  the  Three-Spire  Rock  on  sighting  land. 

It  came  to  pass  as  I  expected.  My  faithful  boat  slipped, 
early  of  a  luminous  evening,  into  the  placid  waters  of  a 
little  bay.  On  either  hand  a  promontory  of  noble  height 
jutted  out  into  the  sea,  and  from  the  shallow  water  near 
the  shore,  against  the  inmost  curve  of  the  beach,  rose  in 
three  pinnacles  a  great,  black  rock,  washed  by  a  gentle 
and  surfless  tide,  and  towering  above  as  tall  as  the  masts 
of  a  ship :  the  Three-Spire  Rock,  beyond  a  doubt. 

I  ran  my  boat  almost  up  to  the  beach,  the  tide  being 
at  flood,  and  anchored  there.  I  put  on  my  fine  white 
leather  suit,  as  being  suitable  for  the  visit  I  had  now  to 
make,  and  waded  ashore  with  a  line  which  for  further 
security  I  made  fast  to  a  log  partly  imbedded  in  the  sand. 
I  then  climbed  upon  the  shoreward  side  of  the  Three- 
Spire  Rock,  and  began  my  search  for  the  Laughing  Nymph. 

I  examined  every  inch  of  that  side  of  the  rock  as  far 
as  I  could  climb,  without  finding  any  sign  of  an  opening. 
I  made  my  way  slowly  around  the  rock  to  the  seaward 
side,  examining  it  carefully  as  I  went,  still  without  suc- 
cess. I  reached  the  outer  side  of  the  rock  in  despair. 


64  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

The  light  of  day  was  fast  waning,  and  I  would  soon  be 
forced  to  give  up  my  search  for  the  night.  The  water, 
which  swelled  and  receded  noiselessly  about  the  rock,  be- 
came black  and  unfriendly.  It  was  very  lonesome.  Not 
a  gull  nor  curlew  nor  sandpiper  could  be  seen  anywhere. 
The  place  was  too  silent  altogether.  I  pressed  along  the 
seaward  face  of  the  rock. 

Before  me,  at  a  little  distance,  the  tide  had  filled  to 
the  brim  a  sort  of  bowl  in  the  rock,  open  toward  the  bay, 
in  which  the  water  stood  some  five  or  six  feet  deep.  I 
came  to  this  bowl  and  paused  to  select  the  best  way  for 
clambering  round  it.  I  looked  down  into  the  still  water 
which  filled  it,  and  saw  there  a  sight  which  almost  made 
my  heart  stop  beating. 

He  Finds  a  Child  in  a  Pool  of  the  Rock 

Floating  there  was  the  body  of  a  drowned  child.  I  gave 
a  cry  of  pity  and  stooped  down  to  look  at  him.  It  was 
a  naked  boy  of  some  two  years,  exceedingly  beautiful.  I 
stooped  lower  and  gazed  into  his  upturned  face.  It  was 
the  face  of  my  own  child. 

It  .could  not  be ;  I  had  myself  seen  him,  with  my  own 
eyes,  far  from  here,  in  his  mother's  arms,  many  months 
ago, — and  yet,  the  longer  I  gazed  upon  him,  the  more 
certainly  I  knew  that  it  was  my  own  child.  I  could  not 
be  deceived.  I  leaned  down  closer  and  put  my  arms  un- 
der him  and  drew  him  up  and  folded  him  to  my  breast. 
He  was  cold  and  wet,  but  beautiful  beyond  anything  I  had 
ever  dreamed  of  him.  I  stood  up,  and  held  his  cheek 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     65 

against  my  own.  It  seemed  to  me  I  had  never  known 
until  this  moment  how  dear  he  had  been  to  me.  I  leaned, 
almost  fainting,  against  the  face  of  the  rock,  and  rested 
his  fair  round  body  in  my  arm  for  a  moment  against  a 
smooth  shelf  in  the  wall.  His  little  shoulder  lightly  touched 
the  rock;  and  where  it  touched,  a  slight  depression  seemed 
to  appear,  as  if  the  rock  had  been  a  cushion.  As  I  looked, 
the  depression  grew  deeper  and  wider;  it  deepened  and 
widened  until  it  became  a  hollow  vault,  in  which  I  could 
see  nothing  but  darkness. 

Holding  the  fair  boy  close  to  my  breast,  I  stepped  into 
the  dark  vault,  and  walked  carefully  forward  toward  the 
interior  of  the  rock.  In  a  moment  the  passage  made  a 
turn  to  the  right,  and  I  found  myself  in  a  brightly  lighted 
room  with  a  peaked  ceiling,  very  lofty,  whose  floor  and 
walls  were  all  of  mother-of-pearl.  In  sconces  on  the  walls 
were  hundreds  of  burning  candles,  and  divans  and  chairs 
covered  with  the  richest  silks  were  ranged  beneath  them. 
A  door  in  the  opposite  wall  stood  open,  and  I  entered 
through  this  another  room  of  the  same  kind,  with  peaked 
ceiling,  candles,  mother-of-pearl,  and  all.  As  I  stood  in 
this  room  I  heard  the  tinkling  of  a  musical  instrument  and 
the  singing  of  a  voice.  A  door  stood  open  opposite  me 
as  before,  and  through  this  I  entered  a  third  room,  pre- 
cisely like  the  others,  and  stopped  in  amazement.  There, 
on  a  divan  against  the  wall,  under  a  blaze  of  candles,  sat 
my  wife. 


66  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

The  Laughing  Nymph  In  the  Three-Spired  Rock 

She  was  singing  gayly  and  accompanying  her  song  upon 
a  lute.  When  she  saw  me  she  laughed  merrily  and  bade 
me  sit  down  beside  her.  I  remained  standing  where  I  was, 
doubting  whether  I  had  lost  my  senses,  and  hugging  the 
beautiful  child  to  my  breast.  There  was  no  mistake.  It 
was  my  wife  indeed.  I  forgot  for  the  moment  the  strange- 
ness of  the  encounter,  and  went  to  her  and  held  out  the 
child. 

"See!"  I  cried.  "Have  done  with  laughing!  Your 
child!  He  is  drowned!  I  have  brought  him  to  you! 
See!" 

She  looked  at  me  with  such  merriment  in  her  face  as 
I  had  never  seen  there  before.  She  laughed  again  and 
again.  I  thought  she  would  never  have  done  laughing. 
I  was  petrified  with  horror. 

"Stop !"  I  cried.  "I  must  make  you  understand  me !  It 
is  your  child!  Do  you  understand?  Can  you  look  at  him 
and  laugh?  For  shame,  for  shame!" 

She  calmed  her  laughter  somewhat. 

"Why,  what  is  there  in  that,"  she  said,  "to  make  me 
weep?  If  you  only  knew  how  ridiculous  you  look!  Oh, 
dear !"  And  she  went  off  into  a  peal  of  laughter  gayer 
than  before. 

"Take  him!"  I  said.  "Look  down  at  that  little  face, 
and  smile  again  if  you  dare!"  And  I  laid  him  in  her  lap. 

She  took  him  up  carelessly  and  placed  him  out  of  her 
way  on  the  divan. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     67 

"Really,"  she  said,  "you  mustn't  expect  to  disturb  me 
with  these  things.  I  was  singing  a  lovely  new  song  when 
you  came  in.  Listen!"  And  she  took  the  lute  in  her 
hands  and  began  to  sing  a  stave  of  her  song. 

I  felt  a  wave  of  anger  rise  within  me.  I  rushed  upon 
her  blindly  and  tore  the  lute  from  her  hands  and  dashed 
it  on  the  floor.  I  seized  her  shoulders  and  shook  her 
violently;  and  the  more  violently  I  shook  her  the  more 
she  laughed.  I  bethought  me  of  the  pin  which  lay  in 
my  pocket,  and  at  the  same  time  there  flashed  into  my  mind 
what  the  sorcerer  had  said  about  the  Laughing  Nymph; 
I  had  quite  forgotten  them  both.  I  snatched  the  pin 
forth  from  my  pocket  with  my  left  hand,  and  closing  my 
eyes  plunged  it  deep  into  the  left  arm  of  the  Laughing 
Nymph. 

She  did  not  scream  with  pain,  but  her  laughter  instantly 
ceased.  She  looked  at  me  with  surprise,  as  if  she  were 
now  seeing  me  for  the  first  time.  An  expression  of 
reproachful  sorrow  came  over  her  face;  tears  started 
into  her  eyes  and  rolled  down  her  cheeks;  and  sud- 
denly she  buried  her  face  in  her  hands  and  wept  bitterly. 
She  arose,  and  threw  herself  on  her  knees  beside  the  child 
and  called  to  him  wildly,  sobbing  as  if  her  heart  would 
break. 

I  looked  on  for  a  moment  with  my  brain  in  a  whirl.  A 
strong  impulse  of  love  and  pity  moved  me  to  put  my  arm 
around  her  and  comfort  her;  but  I  restrained  myself,  and 
in  that  moment  I  saw  what  it  all  meant;  I  left  the  Laughing 
Nymph  still  weeping  beside  the  child,  and  fled. 


68  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

The  Second  Black  Hair  Is  Gone 

Outside,  on  the  beach,  under  the  stars,  I  collected  my 
disordered  wits.  I  went  to  the  little  cabin  in  my  boat,  and 
gazed  at  myself  in  the  mirror  which  hung  upon  its  wall. 
My  eyes  were  unnaturally  large  and  hollow;  my  cheeks 
were  pale;  and  the  black  hair  which  had  been  on  the  right 
side  of  my  head  was  gone. 

I  gathered  together  such  provisions  as  I  could  carry, 
and  seeing  that  the  boat  was  well  secured,  I  departed 
upon  my  third  and  last  adventure. 

Many  days  I  traveled.  The  sorcerer  had  given  me  my 
course  with  much  particularity,  and  there  was  no  question 
of  losing  my  way.  My  thoughts  were  sad  company,  and 
yet  I  felt  a  kind  of  elation.  I  began  to  look  back  on  my- 
self with  horror,  and  to  remember  the  sweetness  of  my 
Princess  with  admiration  and  love. 

One  morning  I  ascended  a  long  wooded  hill  and  stood 
upon  its  top.  Below  me,  at  no  great  distance,  lay  a  river, 
curved  at  this  point  outward  like  a  crescent.  On  its  far- 
ther side  stretched  a  field  some  two  miles  deep,  grown  high 
with  grass  and  flowers,  and  bounded  at  its  rear  by  a  high 
cliff  whose  walls  at  either  end  met  the  river,  enclosing  the 
field  so  that  its  shape,  between  them  and  the  river,  was 
roughly  that  of  a  half-moon.  It  was,  without  a  doubt, 
the  pasture  of  Korbi,  beside  the  river  Tarn.  The  time  for 
my  last  adventure  had  arrived. 

I  descended  rapidly  to  the  river,  first  leaving  my  pack 
in  a  safe  place,  and  waded  across  the  stream;  it  came  to 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     69 

my  shoulders,  but  I  had  no  difficulty  in  reaching  the  other 
side.  I  pressed  forward  through  the  tall  grass  to  the 
foot  of  the  cliff.  I  walked  along  its  base  until  I  found 
above  me  on  its  face,  somewhat  higher  than  my  reach,  a 
circle  of  white  stones;  and  by  this  I  knew  that  it  was  at 
this  point  that  I  must  climb. 

The  ascent  was  excessively  difficult.  I  mounted,  with 
great  pain,  to  a  point  so  high  that  I  no  longer  dared 
look  below;  I  fixed  my  eyes  on  each  crevice  and  cranny 
as  they  appeared  above  me,  and  tried  to  think  of  nothing 
but  my  next  step  upward.  I  was  nearing  the  top.  I  looked 
up,  and  saw  directly  overhead  a  great  bowlder  which  pro- 
jected from  the  face  of  the  cliff,  evidently  at  its  very  sum- 
mit. This  was  the  bowlder  of  which  the  sorcerer  had  spoken 
as  the  abode  of  the  Great  Horned  Owl.  A  dozen  more 
painful  steps  brought  me  to  the  under  side  of  the  bowlder. 
I  clung  to  the  cliff  with  both  hands,  and  without  a  sound 
crept  along  its  face  until  I  was  out  from  under  the  bowlder 
on  its  left  side,  and  then  climbed  noiselessly  upward  until 
I  stood  beside  the  bowlder  so  as  to  look  across  its  top. 
There  I  saw,  at  my  right,  the  object  of  my  search. 

The  Great  Horned  Owl  Stands  Ready  for  the  Loop  of 

Thread 

The  Great  Horned  Owl  was  standing  motionless,  his 
wide  eyes  staring  across  the  valley  of  the  Tarn.  I  was 
thankful  that  in  that  bright  light  of  the  sun  he  was  blind. 
He  did  not  turn  his  head  in  my  direction,  and  he  was 
evidently  unaware  of  my  presence.  His  feathers,  as  I 


70  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

could  see,  were  flakes  or  scales  of  some  shining  metal. 
He  looked  harmless  enough,  and  I  felt  myself  full  of  con- 
fidence. 

The  hand  which  was  nearest  him  was  my  right.  Hold- 
ing on  to  the  cliff  with  my  left,  I  took  from  my  pocket, 
with  my  right,  the  thread  which  the  sorcerer  had  given  me, 
and  cleared  the  loop  so  that  I  could  drop  it  over  the  crea- 
ture's head  without  tangling.  I  leaned  across  the  bowlder 
toward  him,  keeping  very  quiet,  and  brought  my  right 
hand  with  the  loop  so  close  to  him  that  I  could  have  touched 
him.  With  that  hand  I  held  the  loop  above  his  head  and 
began  to  lower  it.  It  came  down  closer  and  closer;  it 
reached  the  top  of  his  head;  I  held  my  breath;  my  eyes 
were  fixed  on  his;  I  lowered  the  loop  another  inch  or  two, 
until  it  came  to  his  curved  beak,  without  touching  him; 
and  I  was  about  to  drop  it  over  his  neck, — when  suddenly 
he  flapped  his  wings  and  fluttered  his  feathers  all  together; 
and  all  the  little  metal  plates  on  his  body  striking  one  an- 
other gave  off  a  rattling  discharge  of  sharp  reports,  so 
violent  that  I  thought  the  cliff  was  being  blown  to  pieces. 
I  jumped  with  fright,  and  scarcely  refrained  from  uttering 
a  cry;  but  I  held  my  tongue,  and  dropped  the  loop  around 
his  neck. 

Instantly  the  metal  feathers  were  still  and  the  noise 
ceased,  and  the  owl  turned  his  head  slowly  toward  me 
and  stared  straight  into  my  face;  and  as  he  gazed  at  me, 
all  at  once  it  came  to  me  that  I  had  dropped  the  noose 
with  my  right  hand  instead  of  my  left.  I  was  aghast  at 
my  mistake.  I  tugged  at  the  thread  frantically,  but  the 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    71 

owl  did  not  budge.  I  began  to  grow  dizzy.  My  arm 
tingled  and  grew  numb.  Everything  turned  black  before 
my  eyes.  I  could  not  remember  where  I  was.  I  swayed 
and  lost  my  balance;  I  felt  myself  falling;  I  clutched  wildly 
for  support,  but  touched  nothing;  I  felt  myself  falling 
through  space,  falling,  falling,  as  a  person  falls  in  a  dream, 
for  hours  as  it  seemed,  sick  and  dizzy..  Only  once  did  I 
touch  anything,  and  then  I  felt  in  my  knee  a  sharp  pain, 
and  was  conscious  that  I  was  bleeding  from  a  cut;  and  then 
I  knew  no  more. 

When  I  came  to  myself,  I  was  standing  at  the  foot 
of  the  cliff,  where  I  had  commenced  my  ascent.  I  looked 
upward,  and  wondered  that  I  was  alive  after  such  a  fall. 
As  my  eye  traveled  downward  and  rested  on  the  circle 
of  white  stones  above  me  I  noticed  in  their  center  a  little 
splotch  of  blood,  evidently  from  my  knee  where  it  had 
been  cut  in  my  fall ;  and  as  I  continued  to  look,  the  splotch 
grew  into  a  blood-red  flower,  waving  on  a  long  stem.  I 
felt  a  strange  desire  to  take  the  flower  in  my  teeth  and 
tear  it. 

Alb  Sees  in  the  River  the  Reflection  of  a  Unicorn 

I  wondered  whether  anything  had  happened  to  the  hair 
in  the  middle  of  my  head.  I  went  to  the  river,  and  looked 
down  at  myself  in  a  clear  pool  near  the  bank.  I  was  sur- 
prised to  see  there  the  reflection  of  a  small  white  horse's 
head.  I  turned  round,  to  see  the  animal  which  must  have 
been  looking  over  my  shoulder.  No  animal  was  there.  I 
could  not  understand  it.  I  looked  again  at  the  surface  of  the 


72  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

water;  the  same  head  met  my  gaze;  a  small  white  horse's 
head,  and  in  the  center  of  it  a  sharp,  white  horn.  I  looked 
behind  me  again,  and  again  into  the  river.  I  stood  in 
the  water,  and  saw  there  the  full  image  of  the  little  white 
horse.  It  was  myself. 

Thus  (said  the  young  man,  sitting  in  the  half-moon 
pasture  of  Korbi,  by  the  river  Tarn),  you  know  my  story. 
I  have  kept  count  of  the  days  since  my  enchantment,  and 
they  now  amount  to  two  years;  the  age  of  my  little  soft 
when  he  was  drowned.  You  have  taken  from  me  the  third 
black  hair,  and  I  shall  now  fly  back  to  my  beloved  Princess, 
cured  of  the  curse  of  perpetual  happiness,  to  spend  with 
her  the  remainder  of  my  days  in  blessed  light  and  shadow, 
peace  and  storm,  laughter  and  tears. 

"1  wonder"  said  Bojohn  thoughtfully,  after  a  moment's 
silence,  "who  the  old  man  was  who  gave  him  the  curse  in 
the  first  place" 

"Did  Alb  tell  you"  said  Bodkin,  "who  the  old  man 
was?" 

"No,"  said  Solario;  "I  don't  believe  he  ever  knew.  But  I 
happen  to  know,  myself,  because  it  was  revealed  to  me  in 
the  course  of  the  story  which  was  told  me  by — " 

"Tell  us!     Tell  us!"  cried  the  two  boys. 

"No,"  said  Solario,  "it  is  much  too  late,  and  I  must 
now,  if  you  will  permit  me,  bid  you  good  night" 


THE  THIRD  NIGHT 

THE  SON  OF  THE  TAILOR  OF  OOGH 

r  j  iHE  King  was  engaged  with  the  Master  of  the 
i  Wardrobe  in  a  game  of  chess  in  the  throne  room, 
and  the  Princess  Dorobel  (the  King's  daughter) 
and  her  husband  Prince  Bilbo  were  looking  on. 

In  the  next  room  the  Queen  was  at  dominoes  with  the 
Second  Lady  in  Waiting,  and  Prince  Bojohn  (her  grand- 
son) and  his  friend  Bodkin  came  and  stood  behind  their 
chairs. 

"Grandmother"  said  Bojohn,  "wouldn't  you  like  to 
hear  a  story?" 

"Not  now,  my  dear,"  said  the  Queen,  and  she  put  down 
a  double  five,  smiling  at  the  Lady  in  Waiting. 

"Come  along,  then"  said  Bojohn  to  Bodkin.  They  went 
into  the  throne  room,  and  stood  behind  the  King's  chair. 

73 


74  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"Grandfather"  said  Bojohn,  "would  n't  you  like  to  hear 
a  story?" 

"You  made  a  fatal  mistake  in  moving  your  knight"  said 
The  King.  "I  will  now  move  my  bishop  and  put  you  in 
check.  So!" 

"Grandfather!"  said  Bojohn.  "Would  n't  you  like 
to—" 

"Take  your  time,  take  your  time"  said  the  King.  "If 
you  move  out  of  check,  I  'II  have  you  in  three  moves.  See 
if  I  don't!" 

"Grandfather!"  said  Bojohn. 

"Ah!"  said  the  King.  "That's  different.  Hum.  Ha. 
I  didn't  think  you'd  do  that.  Plague  take  it,  now  I've  got 
to  think  up  something  else." 

The  Princess  Dorobel  placed  her  arm  around  the  shoulder 
of  Bojohn  her  son.  She  was  radiant  in  a  white  evening 
gown,  and  she  wore  pearls  in  her  hair. 

"Never  mind,  my  dear"  said  she,  "I'd  like  to  hear  a 
story." 

"And  father  too!"  said  Bojohn.  "Come  along,  both 
of  you!" 

The  Princess  Dorobel  put  her  arm  in  her  husband's,  and 
hurried  him  away  after  the  two  boys,  who  were  already 
going  out  at  the  door. 

They  followed  the  boys  through  dark  halls  and  up  a 
staircase  into  the  northeast  tower,  and  stopped,  all  four, 
before  the  door  of  Solario's  room.  Prince  Bojohn  knocked, 
and  a  voice  from  within  bade  them  enter. 

Mortimer  the  Executioner,  seven  feet  tall  and  vast  as  a 


Mortimer  the   Executioner  was  being  measured  by  Solario  for  a  suit 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    75 

hogshead  around  the  middle,  was  standing  in  his  shirt 
sleeves  beside  the  table,  and  before  him  stood  Solaria  on  a 
chair,  measuring  him  with  a  tape.  On  the  table  lay  a  pile  of 
cloth,  with  shears,  chalk,  needles,  thread,  and  wax. 

Solaria  jumped  down  from  his  chair  and  bowed.  He  was 
plainly  in  high  good  humor. 

"Be  seated,  be  seated,  I  pray  you,"  he  cried,  bringing  up 
chairs  in  a  hurry.  "This  is  a  great  honor;  a  very  great 
honor  indeed.  You  see  me  in  the  midst  of  my —  Pray 
be  seated.  Will  you  excuse  me  while  I  note  down  the  shoul- 
der measurement?"  He  bent  over  the  table,  and  jotted 
down  some  figures  in  a  book.  "Mortimer,"  said  he,  "you 
may  go  now.  We  will  continue  our  labors  in  the  morning" 

Mortimer,  in  confusion,  hastily  put  on  his  coat,  which 
caused  a  couple  of  white  mice  to  jump  from  his  pockets  and 
run  up  his  sleeves. 

"Don't  go,"  said  the  Princess  Dorobel.  "We  are  about 
to  ask  our  good  friend  Solaria  for  a  story,  and  I  am  sure 
you  would  like  to  hear  it." 

"Yes,"  said  Prince  Bilbo,  "we  have  come  to  hear  another 
story,  if  you  will  be  good  enough  to — " 

"The  story  of  Montesango's  Cave!"  cried  both  boys, 
together. 

"Or  the  Roving  Griffin!"  cried  Bo  John. 

"Or  the  Blind  Giant!"  cried  Bodkin. 

"If  you  will  pardon  me"  said  Solaria,  "I  think  that  it 
would  please  Prince  Bilbo  and  the  Princess  better,  perhaps, 
to  hear  the  story  told  me  by  the  Black  Prince  on  the  mem- 
orable night  when — " 


76  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"Don't  forget''  said  Bodkin,  "we  want  to  hear  about 
the  old  man  with  the  shaggy  eyebrows,  who  got  the  golden 
chain  away  from  the  goldsmith's  son." 

"I  will  tell  you,"  said  Solario,  "about  the  old  man  and 
about  the  Black  Prince  at  the  same  time." 

"We  know  nothing,"  said  Prince  Bilbo,  "about  any  old 
man  with  shaggy  eyebrows." 

"I'll  tell  you,  father!"  said  Bojohn;  and  he  told  what  he 
knew.  "Now  then!"  he  said  to  Solario.  "Please  go  on!" 

Solario  the  tailor  seated  himself  cross-legged  on  his  table, 
and  the  others  drew  up  their  chairs  before  him  in  a  row. 

"Has  the  old  man  with  the  shaggy  eyebrows"  said  Prince 
Bilbo,  "something  to  do  with  the  Black  Prince?" 

"Precisely,  sir,"  said  Solario.  "If  you  are  ready,  I  will 
relate  to  you  the  story  which  the  Black  Prince  told  me  on 
the  memorable  night  when —  However.  Are  you  ready?" 

"Dear  me!"  said  the  Princess  Dorobel.  "This  is  very 
cozy,  indeed." 

"Go  on!"  cried  Bojohn;  and  Solario,  picking  up  his 
shears  and  gazing  at  them  thoughtfully  for  a  moment,  be- 
gan, in  the  following  words, 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  BLACK  PRINCE 

You  must  know,  most  excellent  Solario  (said  the  Black 
Prince)  that  my  father,  the  King  of  Wen,  called  me  to 
him  one  morning,  and  taking  me  into  his  private  cabinet, 
spoke  to  me  as  follows. 

"My  son,"  said  he,  "you  are  aware  what  anxiety  I  have 
suffered,  throughout  my  reign,  regarding  my  city  of  Oogh, 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     77 

by  reason  of  its  remoteness  from  my  castle.  I  have,  as 
you  know,  been  unable  to  visit  it  since  my  early  youth. 
It  is  now  some  four  years  since  I  sent  to  that  city,  to  gov- 
ern it  in  my  stead,  our  friend  Urban,  so  well-beloved  among 
us  for  his  unfailing  courtesy." 

"Oh!"  said  Bo  John.  "That  must  be  the  Courteous 
Stranger."  Solaria  said,  "Precisely" 

"For  many  months,"  continued  my  father,  the  King  of 
Wen,  "I  have  had  no  word  from  him,  and  I  fear  that  some 
misfortune  has  befallen  him.  I  design  therefore,  my  son, 
to  send  you  to  the  city  of  Oogh,  to  find  out  what  is  wrong, 
and  if  necessary  to  lend  him  aid.  It  will  be  best  for  you 
to  enter  the  city  without  making  yourself  known.  Your 
mission  may  be  dangerous,  and  I  accordingly  wish  you  to 
wear  this  doublet,  which  will  protect  you  against  all  harm 
so  long  as  it  remains  intact.  I  know  of  no  power  which 
can  remove  it  from  your  person,  or  detach  from  it  even  a 
single  button;  but  I  warn  you  to  be  careful,  for  any  in- 
jury to  it  will  deprive  it  of  all  virtue,  and  the  consequences 
to  you  in  that  case  might  be  serious.  Take  the  doublet 
from  me  with  your  left  hand,  and  I  will  tell  you  how  I 
came  into  possession  of  it." 

Thereupon  my  father  with  his  left  hand  placed  the 
doublet  in  my  left  hand,  and  commenced 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET 

"When  I  was  a  young  man,"  said  my  father, — 
"Please  excuse  me,  Sotario,"  said  Prince  Bilbo;  "don't 


78  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

you  think  it  might  be  better  to  go  on  with  the  main  story, 
without  stopping  to — " 

"Really,  I  think  it  would,"  said  the  Princess  DorobeL 

"Oh,  mother!"  said  Bojohn. 

"If  it  is  your  pleasure,"  said  Solaria,  "I  will  omit  the 
story  of  the  magic  doublet  for  the  present" 

"I  really  think  it  would  be  better"  said  the  Princess 
DorobeL 

"Oh,  shucks"  said  Bojohn  to  Bodkin,  in  a  whisper. 

"This  is  the  doublet,"  said  my  father  when  he  had  fin- 
ished his  story,  "which,  as  I  have  told  you,  was  made  by 
the  One-Armed  Sorcerer  with  his  left  hand.  Prepare  now 
for  your  journey,  my  son,  and  good  fortune  attend  you." 

All  that  day  I  spent  in  preparation,  and  early  on  the  next 
morning  I  set  forth  for  the  city  of  Oogh.  My  daughter, 
the  Princess  Amadore,  implored  me  to  take  her  with  me. 
She  was  ever  of  an  ardent  and  adventurous  spirit,  and  she 
would  not  listen  to  my  objections  on  the  score  of  danger- 
She  usually  had  her  way  with  me,  and  I  knew  from  the 
first  that  there  was  no  use  in  resisting  her  entreaties;  and 
the  upshot  of  it  was  that  I  yielded,  though  much  against  my 
judgment. 

The  Prince  and  His  Daughter  Set  Forth  for  Oogh 
In  due  time  we  made  our  way  to  the  city  of  Fadz  on  the 
seacoast,  where  we  took  ship  for  Oogh;  and  for  some  two 
weeks  we  sailed  the  Great  Sea  with  favorable  winds.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  we  were  blown  out  of  our  course  by 
storms,  and  took  shelter  in  the  Island  Kingdom,  at  a  port 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     79 

called  Ventamere,  whence  we  visited  the  kingdom's  capital 
city,  and  arrived  there  in  time  to  witness,  as  the  King's 
guests,  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  the  Princess  Hyla  to 
one  Alb,  a  goldsmith's  son,  a  youth  of  exceedingly  cheer- 
ful and  engaging  manners.  This  ceremony  over,  we  re- 
turned to  Ventamere,  and  there  took  ship  once  more  for 
Oogh. 

No  further  accident  delayed  us,  and  after  a  week  we 
sighted  that  part  of  the  mainland  which  my  father  had 
described  to  me.  At  my  direction  we  were  put  ashore,  my 
daughter  and  myself,  at  a  point  where,  as  I  knew,  I  should 
find  the  road  to  Oogh. 

Leaving  orders  for  the  ship  to  ride  at  a  safe  distance 
from  shore  against  our  return,  we  turned  our  faces  in- 
land; but  before  going  further,  I  darkened  my  face,  neck, 
and  hands  with  walnut  juice,  and  dressed  myself  in  patched 
and  threadbare  clothing.  I  put  on  my  magic  doublet,  but 
concealed  it  beneath  a  rude  blue  smock.  I  tried  to  per- 
suade my  daughter  to  darken  her  face  also,  but  she  posi- 
tively refused  to  ruin  her  complexion,  as  she  expressed  it, 
and  I  now  regretted  bitterly  that  I  had  brought  her  with 
me.  I  was  able  to  persuade  her,  however,  to  put  on  a 
coarse  and  tattered  gown,  but  she  did  it  very  unwillingly. 
I  had  provided  myself  with  some  trinkets  of  silver,  odds 
and  ends  of  lace  and  silk,  and  children^  toys,  and  these 
I  now  slung  on  my  back  in  a  pack.  Thus,  in  the  character 
of  a  peddler  and  his  daughter,  we  set  forth  upon  the  road 
to  Oogh. 


8o  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

A  Strange  Encounter  at  a  Wayside  Well 

Late  in  the  afternoon  we  saw  before  us  the  roofs  of 
the  city,  and  at  the  end  of  the  road  a  gate  in  the  city  wall. 
At  the  same  time  we  perceived,  in  a  clump  of  trees,  a  way- 
side well,  and  we  were  hastening  toward  it,  being  tired 
and  thirsty,  when  we  heard  a  voice  in  that  direction,  which 
was  exclaiming  angrily: 

"There!  Take  that!  I  hate  you,  I  hate  you!  Oh,  if 
I  could  never  see  you  again  I" 

Hearing  no  reply  to  this  outburst,  and  wondering  who 
it  was  that  could  take  such  language  in  silence,  we  hurried 
forward,  and  saw,  standing  beside  the  well,  under  the  trees, 
a  boy  and  no  one  else;  a  boy  of  some  twelve  years  of  age, 
dressed  in  a  gorgeous  robe  of  pale  yellow  silk;  a  singularly 
beautiful  boy,  with  great  dark  eyes  and  curly  dark  hair, 
but  a  face  extremely  pallid  and  stained  with  tears;  a  face, 
in  fact,  the  saddest  I  had  ever  seen  in  a  child.  He  was 
picking  up  from  the  wet  ground  beside  the  well  handfuls 
of  mud,  and  spattering  his  silk  robe  with  it;  and  as  we 
arrived  he  tore  from  his  head  a  cap  of  spotless  white 
velvet  and  stamped  it  into  the  mud,  crying  out,  "I  won't 
wear  you  any  more,  I  won't!  I  hate  you!"  And  then  he 
burst  into  tears  and  flung  himself  full  length  on  his  face 
in  the  mud,  beating  the  ground  with  his  hands  and  mutter- 
ing brokenly  to  himself. 

We  paused  in  astonishment,  but  my  daughter,  recover- 
ing herself  quickly,  ran  to  him  and  put  her  hand  on  his 
shoulder.  He  sat  up,  startled.  He  rose  to  his  feet  timidly, 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     81 

and  gazed  at  us  with  big  round  eyes,  trying  to  choke 
back  his  sobs.  He  was  mud  from  head  to  foot,  and  his 
gorgeous  robe  was  ruined. 

My  daughter  coaxed  him  to  tell  her  what  was  the  matter, 
but  he  made  no  answer;  instead,  he  pulled  off  the  ruined 
robe  and  flung  it  in  the  mud,  and  standing  in  his  shirt  and 
breeches  stamped  upon  it  and  burst  into  tears  again,  and 
cried,  "I  won't  wear  it!  I  want  to  be  poor!  I  want  to  be 
like  the  others !  Oh,  the  wicked  Eyebrow !  Why  can't 
he  be  good  like  the  others?  Oh,  if  I  could  only  cut  off 
the  Eyebrow  and  make  him  poor  and  good  like  the  others !" 

My  daughter  took  his  hand  and  begged  him  to  tell  her 
his  trouble,  but  all  he  would  say  was,  "He  's  wicked,  and 
I  want  him  to  be  good  like  the  others !  And  to-night  he  's 
going  to  give  the  Blind  Bowler  to  Goolk  the  Spider,  and 
I  can't  stop  him,  I  can't  stop  him!"  And  he  broke  into  a 
fresh  storm  of  sobbing. 

My  daughter  shook  her  head  at  me  pityingly. 

"We  are  very  sorry,  my  lad,"  said  I,  "and  I  ask  you 
to  trust  us.  We  are  going  into  the  city,  and  perhaps  when 
you  know  us  better  you  will  tell  us  all  about  it.  We  should 
like  to  help  you.  Will  you  come  with  us?" 

"What  can  a  peddler  do  against  the  Eyebrow?"  said 
the  boy, — but  he  dried  his  tears,  and  allowed  my  daughter  to 
lead  him  forth  by  the  hand  into  the  road. 

We  could  make  nothing  of  the  boy's  wild  talk,  but  we 
went  onward  without  questioning  him  further,  and  drew 
near  to  the  city  in  silence.  Beside  the  city  gate,  under  the 
wall,  a  crowd  of  idle  people  were  gathered,  and  from  the 


82  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

center  of  the  group  we  could  hear  voices  singing  together 
hoarsely.  In  a  few  minutes  we  were  in  the  midst  of  the 
crowd,  and  saw  what  it  was  the  idlers  were  looking  at. 

The  Three  Blind  Ballad  Singers 

Three  blind  men  were  singing  a  comic  ballad  in  loud 
voices,  and  prancing  up  and  down  in  time,  with  such  antics 
that  the  crowd  roared  with  delight.  Each  of  the  three 
held  in  his  hand  a  sheaf  of  papers, — ballads,  undoubtedly, 
intended  for  sale  to  the  onlookers.  Suddenly  they  stopped, 
each  with  a  hand  at  his  ear,  and  looked  up  at  the  sky  as  if 
listening. 

"Is  there  a  stranger  here?"  cried  one  of  them. 

"A  peddler  and  a  maid!"  shouted  one  of  the  crowd. 
"All  tattered  and  torn!" 

"With  eyebrows?"  cried  the  ballad  singer. 

"Yes!  yes!"  said  several  of  the  crowd  together. 

I  did  not  like  this  sort  of  attention  very  well,  and  I 
was  about  to  draw  my  daughter  away,  when  the  ballad 
singers  faced  with  one  accord  in  my  direction  and  began 
to  cry,  "Buy  our  ballads!  Ho,  master  Eyebrows!  Buy 
our  ballads!  Welcome  to  Oogh,  master  Eyebrows!" 

The  faces  and  heads  of  these  three  fellows  were  cov- 
ered with  black  hair;  but  I  now  noticed  that  not  one  of  them 
had  the  vestige  of  an  eyebrow;  and  I  observed  further 
that  there  was  not  an  eyebrow  amongst  all  the  crowd,  with 
the  exception  only  of  the  boy  at  my  side;  and  as  to  him, 
the  people,  when  they  saw  him,  suddenly  fell  silent,  and 
backed  away  from  him  with  something  like  fear  in  their 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     83 

eyes.  The  boy  observed  it,  as  I  could  see,  and  looked  as 
if  he  were  going  to  cry  again. 

"What  do  we  say,  brothers,"  shouted  one  of  the  ballad 
singers,  "what  do  we  say  to  the  damsel  in  the  tattered 
gown?  Shall  one  of  us  marry  the  tattered  damsel?  Oh, 
yes,  oh,  yes !  Tra  la,  tra  la, — " 

He  paused,  as  if  waiting  for  a  laugh;  but  the  crowd 
did  not  laugh  any  more,  and  my  daughter  was  herself  in 
fact  the  only  one  who  seemed  to  be  amused.  As  for  my- 
self, I  was  beginning  to  be  angry. 

"We  '11  marry  the  Lady  Tatters !"  cried  the  blind  man. 
"O-o-oh !"  And  he  burst  into  a  loud  song,  in  which  the 
other  two  joined,  all  three  prancing  up  and  down  mean- 
while in  a  ridiculous  dance.  So  far  as  I  can  recollect  it, 
their  song  went  something  like  this: 

"O  Lady  Tatters!     O  Lady  Tatters! 
We  scorn  the  fellow  who  basely  flatters, 
But  we  can't  help  saying  that  nobody  matters 

But  you,  fair  lady,  but  you,  but  you! 

Tra  la,  tra  la,  tra  la,  tra  la, 
We  know  that  it's  generally  customary 
In  cases  like  these  to  be  shy  and  wary, 
For  often  enough  in  matrimony 
There's  plenty  of  gall  mixed  in  with  the  honey, 

How  true  that  is!  how  true!  how  true! 

Tra  la,  tra  la,  tra  la,  tra  la, 
But  under  existing  circumstances 
Every  fellow  must  take  some  chances, 
Refusing  to  bother  concerning  expenses 
And  other  deplorable   consequences, 
Cheerfully  scorning  each  friendly  warning, — 


84  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

How  few  regard  it!  how  few!  how  few1 

Tra  la,  tra  la,  tra  la,  tra  la, 

O  Lady  Tatters!     O  Lady  Tatters! 
We've  duly  considered  these  difficult  matters, 
And  now,  without  any  reservation, 
We're  ready  to  enter  the  marriage  relation! 
You've  only  to  view  our  reliable  faces 
And  gaze  on  our  truly  superlative  graces, 
To  note  that  the  suitors  by  whom  you're  attended 
Come  really  remarkably  well  recommended, — 

But  it's  all  in  the  point  of  view!     How  true! 
It's  all  in  the  point  of  view ! 

Tra  la,  tra  la,  tra  la,  tra  la, — " 

"Silence,  rogues!"  I  cried,  out  of  all  patience  at  their 
impudence,  but  my  daughter  burst  out  laughing.  It  was 
ever  her  way  to  be  amused  rather  than  annoyed. 

"Master  Eyebrows!"  shouted  the  first  ballad  singer. 
"Choose  one  of  us  for  the  tattered  damsel !  What  will 
you  take  for  her?  Speak." 

"You  shall  have  the  Shears  I"  shouted  the  second  ballad 
singer. 

"The  Shears  of  Sharpness!"  shouted  the  third. 

"See,  Eyebrows!"  cried  the  first.  "The  Shears  of  Sharp- 
ness!" 

The  Blind  Ballad  Singer  Displays  the  Shears  of  Sharpness 

He  drew  from  under  his  gown  a  pair  of  tailor's  shears, 
and  as  he  did  so  the  crowd  fell  back  as  if  in  alarm.  He 
stepped  toward  the  city  wall,  and  placed  his  hand  on  a 
flat  iron  bar,  some  two  or  three  inches  in  width,  supporting 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     85 

an  awning  over  a  booth;  and  applying  his  shears  to  it, 
he  cut  it  through  and  through  as  if  it  had  been  paper.  I 
gasped  in  amazement;  never  had  I  seen  a  pair  of  shears 
like  those. 

"The  Shears  for  the  lady!"  cried  the  blind  man.  "Come, 
Eyebrows,  choose !" 

"Impudent  rascal,"  said  I,  "the  lady  is  my  daughter, 
and  I  foresee  that  a  good  scourging  is  awaiting  you.  Come, 
Amadore !" 

"But  buy  our  ballads!"  cried  the  second  ballad  singer. 
"Buy  our  ballads!"  cried  the  others,  and  each  of  the  three 
thrust  toward  me  one  of  his  papers. 

I  took  them,  and  paying  over  a  few  coppers,  moved  on 
toward  the  city  gate.  "Father!"  said  Amadore  in  my 
ear.  "The  boy  is  gone!" 

It  was  true.  The  boy  had  slipped  away,  and  was  gone. 
The  idlers  began  to  laugh  again,  and  I  drew  my  daughter 
after  me  into  the  city. 

In  a  moment  we  were  standing  in  a  street  of  shops, 
and  my  daughter,  laughing  again,  begged  me  to  read  my 
ballads.  I  glanced  at  the  sheets,  still  angry,  and  was 
about  to  toss  them  away,  when  I  observed  that  they  were 
blank,  or  nearly  so,  and  I  looked  at  them  more  closely. 

On  the  first  were  written  these  words,  and  nothing  more : 
"Hurry.  Hurry." 

On  the  second  I  found  these  words  only:  "The  Cobweb 
Room  in  the  Governor's  Palace." 

On  the  third  were  these  words  only:  "The  Eyebrows  of 
Babadag  the  Tailor." 


86  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

I  stared  at  my  daughter  in  perplexity;  but  she  urged 
that  these  could  be  no  other  than  messages  on  behalf  of 
our  friend  Urban,  and  that  we  must  find  him  without  a 
moment's  delay.  We  walked  on  briskly,  intending  to  in- 
quire our  way  to  the  governor's  palace. 

The  Strange  Conduct  of  the  People  of  Oogh 

As  we  went  on,  we  became  aware  of  a  general  and  op- 
pressive stillness.  A  few  people  were  in  the  street,  and 
some  could  be  seen  inside  the  shops;  but  they  conversed  in 
low  tones,  and  they  seemed  to  be  idle,  indifferent,  and 
listless.  Here  and  there  a  shopkeeper  sat  in  a  chair  before 
his  shop,  gazing  blankly  at  the  opposite  wall. 

Of  the  first  of  these  shopkeepers  I  inquired  the  direction 
of  the  governor's  palace.  The  man  started  from  his  rev- 
erie, as  if  frightened,  rose  from  his  chair,  stared  at  me 
curiously,  and  without  a  word  went  into  his  shop  and  closed 
the  door.  "Did  you  see?"  said  my  daughter.  "He  had 
no  eyebrows." 

At  the  next  corner  we  came  to  an  open  market  of  stalls, 
and  there  I  repeated  my  inquiry.  Instead  of  the  usual 
bustle  and  clamor  of  a  market,  there  was  the  same  silence, 
though  the  place  was  thronged  with  people.  I  nudged 
my  daughter  in  surprise,  for  among  all  these  people  there 
was  not  an  eyebrow.  The  venders  were  making  no  effort, 
apparently,  to  sell  their  wares,  and  the  customers  were 
buying  with  an  air  of  indifference,  as  if  the  business  bored 
them.  I  began  to  feel  depressed,  and  even  my  daughter 
was  sober. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     87 

The  market  man  of  whom  I  asked  my  direction  looked 
anxiously  about  him  before  answering,  and  then  whispered 
hurriedly,  "I've  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Nothing.  How  do 
you  come  to  be  wearing  eyebrows  here?" 

Without  answering  him,  I  applied  at  two  or  three  other 
stalls,  but  the  only  result  was  a  shaking  of  heads  and  a 
curious,  wide  gaze,  as  of  mild  alarm.  There  was  nothing 
to  do  but  to  search  out  unaided  the  most  pretentious  house 
in  the  city;  for  such  a  house,  undoubtedly,  would  be  the 
governor's  residence. 

We  walked  the  streets  for  more  than  an  hour ;  and  every- 
where was  the  same  silence,  the  same  listlessness,  the  same 
apathy.  "I  don't  believe,"  said  my  daughter,  "that  these 
people  have  any  wills  of  their  own  at  all." 

"Certainly,"  said  I,  "they  have  no  eyebrows  of  their 
own,  at  least.  Except  for  the  boy  who  ran  away  from  us, 
I  haven't  seen  an  eyebrow  in  the  city.  It  seems  strange." 

The  Mansion  in  the  Ruined  Park 

We  ascended  a  hill,  and  came  to  a  park  gate,  at  a  point 
from  which  we  could  see  the  entire  city  below  us.  Through 
the  gate,  across  the  park,  we  saw  a  residence  more  impos- 
ing than  any  we  had  yet  seen.  The  gate  hung  wide  open 
on  broken  hinges,  and  the  park  within  was  in  a  state  of 
ruin. 

"This  must  be  it,"  said  my  daughter. 

"It  seems  unlikely,"  said  I,  "but  we  will  soon  know." 

We  made  our  way  across  the  park,  through  tall  weeds 
and  tangled  brambles,  and  stood  before  a  splendid  but 


88  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

gloomy  mansion.  The  door  was  swinging  open,  and  we 
entered. 

All  was  silent  within.  A  sense  of  calamity  seemed  to 
pervade  the  place;  plainly  it  was  deserted.  We  walked 
on  through  spacious  apartments,  and  everywhere  was 
furniture  of  the  richest  description,  but  covered  with  dust 
and  hung  with  cobwebs.  We  stopped  finally,  far  within, 
before  a  door  which  appeared  to  lead  outside. 

"It  is  no  use,"  said  I.  "Our  friend  is  gone,  if  he  was 
ever  here,  and  we  must  seek  him  elsewhere." 

"No,  no,"  said  my  daughter.  "We  must  find  the  Cob- 
web Room." 

She  led  the  way  out  into  an  open  court  green  with  moss 
and  weeds,  in  the  center  of  which  was  a  fountain  with  a  dry 
and  littered  basin  beneath  it.  I  stopped  suddenly,  and 
listened.  "Hark!"  said  I.  From  a  distance  came,  or 
seemed  to  come,  the  voices  of  the  three  blind  ballad  singers, 
shouting  out  some  ribald  ballad.  My  daughter  smiled,  and 
I  called  out,  "Urban  1"  The  singing  ceased,  and  there  was 
no  response  to  my  cry.  "Come,"  said  my  daughter,  and 
led  me  around  the  dry  fountain  to  an  alley  of  cypress  trees 
which  opened  toward  a  section  of  the  mansion  beyond  the 
court. 

An  open  door  at  the  end  of  this  alley  admitted  us  to  a 
circular  chamber,  very  lofty,  evidently  an  audience  room, 
deserted  like  the  rest,  on  one  side  of  which,  on  a  dais,  stood 
a  marble  seat  with  arms,  covered  with  cobwebs. 

"Ah!  Look!"  said  my  daughter,  and  pointed  to  an 
open  doorway  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    89 

The  Solitary  Figure  Behind  the  Spider's  Web 

The  doorway  was  barred  from  top  to  bottom  and  from 
side  to  side  with  a  single  monstrous  spider's  web.  We  stood 
before  it  and  looked  through.  Seated  beside  a  table  in  a 
little  room  with  a  high  window  barred  likewise  with  a  cob- 
web was  the  figure  of  our  friend,  the  governor  of  Oogh. 

His  head  was  resting  mournfully  on  his  hand,  and  he 
was  staring  vacantly  at  the  floor.  His  hair  was  long  and 
powdered  with  dust;  his  beard  had  grown  to  a  great  length; 
but  he  had  no  eyebrows.  His  hands  and  clothing  were 
white  with  dust,  and  there  was  around  his  neck,  in  striking 
contrast,  a  gold  chain,  of  very  fine  gold  and  delicate  work- 
manship. 

"Urban!"  I  cried.    "We  are  here!" 

He  did  not  move.  I  called  his  name  again,  but  he  seemed 
not  to  hear.  He  did  not  move  nor  speak.  I  pushed  briskly 
against  the  cobweb,  but  it  held  like  wire;  I  could  not  break 
through,  though  I  dashed  against  it  with  all  my  strength. 
I  tried  to  cut  it  with  a  sharp  knife  which  I  wore  under  my 
smock,  but  it  was  no  use;  the  cobweb  held,  and  the  blade 
was  broken. 

We  remained  for  a  moment,  peering  in  at  our  friend, 
uncertain  what  to  do.  Who  could  have  been  the  author  of 
this  witchery?  I  remembered  the  name  which  had  occurred 
on  one  of  the  ballad  singers'  sheets.  I  gave  a  last  look  at 
the  silent  and  motionless  figure  within,  and  led  my  daughter 
back  to  the  court  of  the  dry  fountain.  There  she  sat  down 
on  the  rim  of  the  empty  basin,  and  looked  up  at  the  sky 


90  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

as  if  listening.  A  faint  sound,  as  of  singing  at  a  distance, 
seemed  to  float  down  to  us. 

"Just  as  I  thought,"  said  my  daughter.  "It  will  be  best 
for  me  to  remain  here.  I  think  some  information  will 
come  to  me  here,  if  I  wait.  Do  you  go  down  into  the  city, 
father,  and  seek  what  you  may  find  there.  I  will  wait 
here  until  you  return.  Don't  be  uneasy,  father;  I  shall 
not  be  lonesome."  And  she  laughed,  as  if  at  some  joke. 

I  did  not  understand  her  purpose,  and  I  refused  to 
leave  her;  but  she  insisted,  and  I  gave  in  at  last.  She  always 
had  her  way. 

I  left  her,  and  set  forth  ulone  to  obtain  such  information 
as  I  could.  I  was  passing  out  through  the  ruinous  gateway 
into  the  street,  when  I  heard,  or  fancied  I  heard,  from  the 
direction  of  the  house,  the  voices  of  the  three  blind  ballad 
singers,  in  one  of  their  songs;  but  when  I  stopped  to  listen 
I  could  hear  them  no  longer,  and  I  concluded  that  I  had 
been  mistaken. 

I  reached  the  market  place,  and  stood  for  a  moment 
behind  an  awning,  debating  whether  I  might  put  a  question 
regarding  Babadag  the  Tailor.  I  was  still  uncertain  what 
to  do,  when  a  slight  commotion  among  the  people  attracted 
my  notice.  I  looked  out  from  my  concealment,  and  saw, 
approaching  from  the  next  corner,  the  boy  whom  I  had 
found  beside  the  wayside  well. 

The  Prince  Watches  the  People's  Behavior  Toward  the  Boy 

His  face  was  dark  with  a  sort  of  settled  gloom.  He 
walked  slowly,  and  as  he  came  on  the  people  made  way  for 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     91 

him  and  stood  whispering  in  groups  and  glancing  at  him 
furtively  over  their  shoulders.  He  paused  at  one  of  the 
stalls  and  picking  up  some  dates  looked  at  the  vender, 
timidly  and  appealingly,  as  if  about  to  speak;  but  the  vender 
sidled  away  from  him  toward  the  nearest  group,  and  the 
boy  put  down  the  fruit,  sighed,  and  went  on. 

He  passed  the  place  of  my  concealment,  and  by  this  time 
tears  were  beginning  to  trickle  down  his  cheeks.  But  he 
held  his  head  proudly,  and  looking  neither  to  right  nor  to 
left  passed  out  of  sight  around  the  next  corner. 

I  followed  him,  hoping  for  some  light  upon  the  general 
mystery.  I  followed  him  across  the  city,  through  many 
streets,  wondering  why  it  was  that  a  boy  so  gentle  and  so 
beautiful  should  seem  to  inspire  everywhere  a  kind  of  mild 
and  listless  aversion.  At  one  place  a  child  ran  up  to  him 
and  tugged  at  his  garments,  and  the  boy's  face  lighted  up 
with  pleasure;  but  the  child's  mother  pulled  her  infant  away 
in  a  hurry,  and  the  boy  went  on,  more  sadly  than  before. 

He  came  to  a  street  in  which,  for  the  space  of  a  single 
block,  the  shops  and  houses  were  evidently  deserted;  and  in 
the  middle  of  this  block,  before  a  shop  with  broken  windows, 
deserted  apparently  like  the  rest,  the  boy  stopped,  and  push- 
ing open  the  front  door,  went  in. 

I  came  up  quickly,  and  peeping  in  at  the  same  door  saw  a 
vacant  room  within,  in  which  remnants  of  old  merchandise 
were  lying  about  in  disorder,  and  dirt  and  refuse  lay  every- 
where on  the  floor.  I  went  in  quietly  and  crossed  the  room 
to  a  door  at  the  rear,  and  opening  it  on  a  crack  saw  the 
boy  stooping  down  in  a  paved  yard.  I  heard  the  boy  speak, 


92  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

without  hearing  what  he  said,  and  saw  him  descend  by  some 
means  into  the  ground  and  disappear. 

I  ran  to  the  spot  and  knelt  down  beside  an  iron  grating, 
some  three  feet  square,  which  I  found  there  in  the  pavement. 
I  heard  from  below  a  rumble,  succeeded  by  a  clatter,  and 
then  there  was  silence.  Laying  down  my  pack  on  the 
ground  I  pulled  at  the  grating,  and  found  that  it  rose  on 
hinges,  like  a  trapdoor.  I  opened  it,  and  saw  beneath  it  a 
ladder.  I  stepped  on  the  top  rung,  and  went  down. 

The  Man  with  the  Ball  in  the  Underground  Alley 

At  the  bottom  I  found  myself  at  one  end  of  a  dimly 
lighted  room,  very  long  and  very  narrow,  like  an  enclosed 
alley;  and  near  by  was  the  boy,  and  beside  him  a  grown  man, 
both  intent  on  something  at  the  other  end  of  the  room.  The 
man  was  swinging  in  his  right  hand  a  large  wooden  ball, 
and  as  I  watched  him  he  cried  out,  laughing  cheerily: 

"Never  mind,  Figli !  This  time  I'll  make  a  strike  1  Only 
forty-seven  more  to  make  !  Now  watch  I" 

He  hurled  the  ball  from  him  along  the  floor,  and  it 
rolled  swiftly  to  the  far  end  of  the  room,  where  it  crashed 
in  among  ten  large  wooden  bottles,  standing  upright  on  the 
floor.  He  was  playing  tenpins. 

"Oh !"  cried  the  boy  called  Figli.    "Only  seven  I" 

"Never  mind,  never  mind,"  said  the  Bowler,  cheerfully, 
and  ran  up  the  alley  and  set  up  the  pins,  and  then  ran  back 
with  the  ball,  in  great  haste.  As  he  came  back,  he  appeared 
to  look  directly  at  me,  but  gave  no  sign  of  having  seen  me.  I 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     93 

scanned  his  face  closely.  He  was  blind.  His  hair  and  beard 
were  black,  and  he  had  no  eyebrows. 

The  boy  flung  out  his  hands  as  if  in  despair,  and  cried: 

"It's  no  use !  You  can't  do  it !  Forty-seven  strikes  to 
make  by  midnight !  Oh,  he'll  give  you  to  Goolk  the  Spider ! 
What  shall  I  do?  What  shall  I  do?" 

"Perhaps  I  can  help  you,"  said  I,  coming  forward. 

The  boy  sprang  up,  and  the  Blind  Bowler  wheeled  round 
toward  me. 

"Oh !  it's  you,"  said  the  boy  named  Figli.  "What  can  a 
peddler  do  against  the  Eyebrow?" 

"Who  is  it?"  said  the  Blind  Bowler. 

"It's  a  stranger  with  eyebrows,"  said  Figli,  "who  was 
kind  to  me  to-day." 

The  Blind  Bowler  sent  a  ball  spinning  up  the  alley,  and 
all  the  ten  pins  fell  down  with  a  clatter. 

"A  strike!"  cried  Figli,  joyfully. 

"We'll  do  it  yet!"  said  the  Bowler.  "Only  forty-six 
more !  Never  give  up  !  Keep  everlastingly  at  it,  that's  my 
motto!"  And  he  ran  after  the  ball,  set  up  the  pins,  and 
ran  back,  ready  to  throw  again. 

"If  he  has  eyebrows,"  said  he,  panting  and  wiping  his 
forehead,  "he  must  have  a  will  of  his  own;  and  it  must  be  a 
good  will,  or  else  he  wouldn't  have  been  kind  to  you." 

He  rolled  the  ball  again,  knocking  down  only  six. 

"Better  luck  next  time !"  he  cried,  and  darted  up  the  alley. 
"Never  say  die,  and  keep  everlastingly  at  it,  that's  the 
motto  I" 


94  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"My  boy,"  said  I,  "I  beg  you  to  trust  me,  and  to  tell  me 
who  you  are,  and  why — " 

"A  strike !"  cried  the  Blind  Bowler.  "Only  forty-five  to 
make  by  midnight !  Trust  him,  Figli !  His  voice  is  honest. 
I  think  he  is  the  one  we  have  been  waiting  for.  Trust  him  I" 

"It's  hard  for  me  to  tell  you,"  said  the  boy,  "it's  too — " 

"I'll  tell  you !"  cried  the  Blind  Bowler,  running  down  the 
alley.  "His  name  is  Figli  Babadag.  Does  that  tell  you 
everything?" 

"No,  nothing,"  said  I. 

"Eight  down  that  time !"  cried  the  Bowler.  "Never  say 
die !  He's  the  son  of  Babadag  the  Tailor.  Now  do  you 
know? 

"No,"  said  I. 

"Then  I  must  tell  you,"  said  the  Blind  Bowler.  "It  is 
Babadag  who  rules  the  city;  don't  you  know  that?  Master 
of  black  secrets  is  Babadag,  and  lord  of  the  Eyebrow;  and 
his  anger  is  terrible.  He  has  put  the  golden  chain  about 
the  Governor's  neck  and  shut  him  up  in  the  Cobweb  Room. 
He  has  drawn  the  wills  from  out  of  the  brains  of  all  our 
people,  by  plucking  out  their  eyebrows,  so  that  in  all  the  city 
there  are  but  two  wills  only,  one  bad  and  one  good :  the  will 
of  Babadag  and  the  will  of  his  little  son.  Nine  down  that 
time  !  Never  give  up  !" 

"Oh!"  cried  Figli.  "I  want  my  father  to  be  good!  I 
want  him  to  be  poor  and  good  like  the  others !  If  I  could 
only  make  him  good  !" 

"Only  one  way  to  do  that!"  said  the  Blind  Bowler,  half- 
way down  the  alley.  "He  is  lord  of  the  Eyebrow,  and  in 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    95 

the  Eyebrow  lies  his  power.  But  the  hairs  of  his  eyebrows 
are  no  ordinary  hairs;  they  are  of  the  family  of  gray  snakes 
that  live  in  the  lake  Siskratoum,  and  there  is  no  one  to  cut 
them,  even  if  there  were  a  blade  sharp  enough;  and  they 
must  be  cut  by  the  hand  of  love,  and  there  is  no  one  here 
that  loves  him,  but  his  son.  There  is  not  one  but  trembles 
at  his  name,  and  even  at  the  name  of  Figli  his  son; — there 
is  scarcely  one  who  dares  brush  against  the  boy  in  the  street, 
for  fear  of  what  power  may  lie  in  the  eyebrows  of  the  boy, 
and  for  fear  of  his  father's  malice." 

"They  won't  speak  to  me !"  cried  Figli.  "They're  afraid 
of  me !  And  I've  done  them  no  harm  I  I  only  want  to  be 
friends  with  them!" 

"You  see  he's  all  alone.  He  hates  his  riches;  he  wants 
to  be  poor  and  simple,  like  the  others." 

"And  what  about  yourself?"  said  I. 

"Ah!"  cried  the  Blind  Bowler.  "Only  six  down  that 
time !  Not  so  easy,  when  you've  no  eyes  to  see  with !  But 
keep  everlastingly  at  it,  that's  the  word!  What  did  you 
say?" 

"What  about  yourself?"  said  I. 

"Oh,  me !  I  helped  the  governor  fight  this  Babadag, 
and  we  lost;  and  for  that  the  powerful  one  put  out  my  eyes, 
and  the  eyes  of  my  three  brothers  as  well,  for  nothing  but 
because  they  were  my  brothers;  three  ballad  singers — " 

"Yes !"  said  I.    "I  have  seen  them." 

"Ridiculous  fellows,  but  no  harm  in  them!  And  be- 
cause it  was  my  pleasure  in  former  times  to  play  at  bowling, 
old  Babadag  placed  me  here,  under  my  shop,  to  bowl  a 


96  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

thousand  strikes,  if  I  could,  by  midnight  of  this  very  day; 
and  if  not,  to  take  my  place  in  the  web  with  Goolk  the 
Spider.  Those  ballad  singers,  my  brothers,  they  would  like 
to  help  me  if  they  could,  and  perhaps  they  will  yet,  who 
knows?  Aha!  Another  strike !  I'll  do  it  yet  1" 

"It's  no  use,"  said  Figli.  "The  time's  too  short.  And  I 
can't  save  him.  Oh,  if  you  could  help  us,  peddler  !  But  you 
mustn't  do  my  father  any  harm !" 

"My  boy,"  said  I,  "I  am  a  friend  of  the  enchanted  gov- 
ernor, and  I  will  do  my  best  to  help  you.  And  perhaps  the 
three  blind  ballad  singers  mean  to  help  too.  I  think  they 
do.  Will  you  take  me  to  your  father?" 

The  boy  started  in  alarm.  "You  are  very  brave,  ped- 
dler," said  he.  "What  do  you  say?"  he  asked  of  the  Blind 
Bowler. 

"I  say  yes!"  cried  the  Bowler.  "There  is  hope  in  this 
stranger.  I  think  he's  the  one  we've  been  waiting  for.  My 
brothers  have  been  on  the  lookout  for  him.  They'll  help 
too.  Trust  him  1" 

"Do  you  know  any  stories?"  said  the  boy. 

I  smiled.    "A  few,  I  dare  say,"  said  I. 

"My  father  is  a  lover  of  tales.  It's  his  one  weakness.  It 
will  be  safer  for  you  if  you  can  amuse  him  with  tales,  and 
the  longer  they  are  the  better." 

"The  wine,  if  he  offers  you  any,"  said  the  Blind  Bowler, 
"will  be  drugged;  that  much  is  sure.  Take  care.  And  do 
not  let  yourself  be  touched  by  Goolk  the  Spider." 

"Come,"  said  I.    "There  is  not  a  moment  to  be  lost." 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     97 

The  Prince  Sets  Out  for  His  Encounter  with  Babadag  the 

Tailor 

I  hastened  to  the  ladder,  followed  by  the  boy,  and  we 
began  to  go  up.  The  tenpins  fell  down  with  a  clatter,  and 
as  I  reached  the  grating  overhead  I  heard  the  voice  of  the 
Blind  Bowler  from  below,  crying  out  cheerily,  "Four  down  I 
Never  mind!  Keep  everlastingly  at  it!" 

In  the  paved  yard  I  slung  my  pack  on  my  back  again, 
and  followed  the  boy  into  the  street.  It  was  beginning  to 
grow  dark,  and  I  thought  anxiously  of  my  daughter;  but  I 
could  not  go  back  to  her  yet.  During  our  walk  the  boy 
spoke  only  once,  and  then  he  said: 

"You  must  not  do  my  father  any  harm.  I  love  my  father. 
I  want  him  to  be  good,  like  the  others,  but  I  should  die — 
I  should  die ! — if  he  came  to  any  harm." 

I  did  not  reply,  but  followed  for  half  an  hour  through 
streets  which  were  now  almost  empty  of  people.  We  entered 
at  last  a  street  narrower  than  the  others,  paved  with  cobble- 
stones and  without  a  sidewalk,  and  stopped  before  a  shop 
over  whose  door,  by  way  of  a  sign,  hung  a  yardstick  and 
a  pair  of  shears.  It  seemed  a  mean  enough  abode  for  the 
ruler  of  the  city,  but  Figli,  without  hesitating,  opened  the 
door  and  went  in.  The  room  inside  was  dark,  but  I  could 
see  a  tailor's  bench  and  implements,  and  a  disorderly  array 
of  half-finished  garments,  covered  with  dust.  The  boy 
opened  a  door  at  the  rear,  and  I  followed  him  along  a  dark 
passage  to  another  door,  which  Figli  threw  open  to  a  flood 
of  light. 


98  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

Babadag  the  Tailor,  Goolk  the  Spider,  and  the  Eight  Tailors 

We  were  standing  in  a  magnificent  apartment,  paved  with 
colored  marble,  hung  and  spread  with  soft  rugs,  and  lit 
with  hundreds  of  tapers.  At  the  left,  near  the  wall,  was 
sitting  an  old  man,  and  behind  his  chair,  from  ceiling  to 
floor,  was  a  gigantic  spider's  web,  which  glistened  like  silver 
in  the  candlelight.  In  the  center  of  this  web  was  a  great 
green  spider,  with  five  or  six  small  black  spiders  about  him. 
Against  the  opposite  wall,  on  a  tailor's  bench,  eight  men, 
totally  without  eyebrows,  were  sitting  cross-legged,  each 
bending  over  a  bowl  held  on  his  knees,  filled  with  what 
looked  like  shreds  of  hair,  and  engaged  in  some  kind  of 
work  with  tiny  knitting  needles. 

The  old  man's  gross  and  heavy  body  was  clothed  in  a 
gorgeous  robe  of  pale  yellow  silk,  like  that  which  the  boy 
had  thrown  in  the  mud,  but  embroidered  with  spider's  webs 
of  spun  gold,  and  studded  with  rubies  and  amethysts.  His 
face,  a  rather  jovial  face,  was  covered  with  gray  hair, 
which  hung  over  his  breast,  and  his  eyes  shone  like  sparks 
behind  a  pair  of  the  shaggiest  eyebrows  I  had  ever  seen. 
He  gazed  at  me  calmly,  and  held  out  a  hand  to  his  son. 

The  boy  went  to  him,  and  Babadag  the  Tailor  put  an  arm 
about  him  and  said,  with  very  obvious  tenderness : 

"My  boy,  you  are  late.  And  your  robe  and  hat!  Where 
are  they?" 

The  boy  threw  himself  on  his  knees  beside  his  father,  and 
cried,  "Oh,  father!  I  couldn't  wear  them  any  longer.  I 
couldn't!  They're  hateful!  I  don't  want  to  be  dressed  in 


"\  on   arc   welcome,   master   peddler,"   said    Babada^ 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET     99 

silk!  I  want  to  be  poor  like  the  others  1  I  can't  wear  them 
any  longer,  I  can't,  I  can't!" 

The  old  man  smiled  kindly.  "Never  mind,  my  son,  never 
mind.  I'll  not  scold  you.  We'll  think  no  more  about  it. 
Who  is  the  visitor  you  have  brought  with  you?" 

"It's  a  peddler,"  said  Figli,  standing  up.  "I  don't  know 
his  name ;  a  peddler  I  met  by  chance,  and  I'd  like  you  to  buy 
me  something  from  his  pack." 

I  stepped  forward,  made  my  bow,  and  dropped  my  pack 
to  the  floor. 

"You  are  welcome,  master  peddler,"  said  Babadag. 

The  green  spider  gave  a  sharp  twitch,  which  set  the  whole 
web  quivering. 

"Quiet,  Goolk!"  said  Babadag. 

The  eight  men  on  the  tailor's  bench  stopped  their  work, 
and  said:  "Welcome,  master  peddler!" 

"Knit  your  brows !"  said  Babadag,  angrily,  and  the  eight 
men  hurriedly  resumed  their  knitting. 

I  opened  my  pack  and  began  to  take  out  some  toys. 

"Presently,  presently,  peddler,"  said  Babadag,  stopping 
me.  "Your  face  is  dark,  stranger.  A  little  more,  and  it 
would  have  been  black." 

"Yes,  very  dark,"  said  the  eight  men,  stopping  their  work 
again. 

"Knit  your  brows!"  thundered  Babadag.  "Accursed 
dogs,  be  silent! — A  dark  stranger,  who  wears  eyebrows  in 
the  city  of  Oogh !  A  thing  of  interest !  I  would  gladly 
know  who  you  are  and  what  brings  you  here." 

I  was  prepared  with  my  story,  and  I  answered  promptly. 


ioo  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"Magnificence,"  said  I,  "I  am  a  peddler,  and  my  name  is 
Nobbud  Bald-er-Dash.  If  the  ear  of  graciousness  will  in- 
cline to  me,  I  will  tell  an  amusing  tale  concerning  myself, 
and  at  some  length." 

"A  tale  !"  cried  Babadag.  "You  must  know,  honest  Bald- 
er-Dash, that  I  am  a  lover  of  tales.  A  weakness!  I  con- 
fess it.  Come !  We  will  make  a  night  of  it.  Goolk,"  said 
he,  rising,  "come  hither !" 

The  green  spider  sped  down  the  web  to  the  floor,  and 
ran  up  the  old  man's  yellow  silk  robe,  and  came  to  a  stop 
on  his  breast,  beside  his  beard. 

"It  is  the  hour  of  the  evening  repast,"  continued  Babadag, 
stroking  the  spider  with  his  finger,  "and  I  invite  you  to  sit 
down  with  me.  A  guest  who  has  a  tale  to  tell !  It  is  good 
fortune,  no  less !  Come,  Figli,  my  son,  we  will  listen  to  the 
excellent  Bald-er-Dash  while  we  dine." 

The  Prince  Dines  with  Babadag   the   Tailor 

He  pulled  aside  a  curtain  in  the  wall,  and  leaving  the 
eight  men  at  their  work,  we  passed,  all  three,  into  an  open 
court,  hung  about  with  lanterns  of  colored  glass,  and  odor- 
ous with  flowers.  Under  an  awning  was  a  small  table,  set  for 
two.  It  was  now  dark,  and  the  lanterns  shed  a  soft  glow  on 
the  silver  and  glass  of  the  table.  Servants  appeared  and 
laid  a  place  for  myself,  and  the  meal  commenced. 

"You  are  wondering,  Bald-er-Dash,"  said  Babadag, 
"who  the  eight  men  are  whom  we  have  just  left.  They 
are  tailors,  known  among  us  as  the  Knitters  of  Eyebrows/ 
They  are  knitting  for  me,  out  of  the  eyebrows  which  my 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    101 

good  people  have  been  so  kind  as  to  give  me,  a  garment 
known  as  the  Cloak  of  Wills,  which  will,  when  finished, 
complete  the  mastery  of  the  fortunate  person  who  wears  it. 
Try  a  little  of  this  wine,  my  good  Bald-er-Dash;  you  will 
find  it  excellent." 

I  pretended  to  drink  the  wine,  but  I  was  able,  while 
Babadag's  attention  was  fixed  on  his  plate,  to  spill  a  good 
deal  of  it  on  the  floor. 

"I  am  anxious  to  hear  your  story,"  said  the  old  man. 
"The  singers  who  sometimes  entertain  me  at  my  meals  arc 
late  to-day,  and  we  will  not  wait  for  them.  Bald-er-Dash, 
my  good  fellow,  let  me  hear  your  tale." 

At  this  moment  voices  were  heard  from  the  shadows, 
and  three  men  came  running  toward  the  table,  crying  out 
boisterously. 

"Good  news !"  they  were  shouting.  "We're  going  to 
marry!  She's  promised!  She'll  marry  the  one  you  choose, 
tra  la  !  She'll  marry  the  one  you  choose !" 

The  Three  Blind  Ballad  Singers  Once  More 
They  began  to  sing,  at  the  top  of  their  voices.    I  started 
in  surprise.    It  was  the  three  blind  ballad  singers.  "O-o-oh !" 
they  sang: 

"She  wanted  to  marry  us  all,  she  said, 
But  that  wouldn't  do,  no  never, 
No  never,  no  never,  no,  no! 
From  suitors  a  dozen, 
Not  counting  a  cousin 
And  two  or  three  uncles  or  so, 
She'd  freely  and  frankly,  firmly  and  fairly, 


102  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

Flatly  and  finally  fled ! 
For  never  a  one  could  sing,  not  one, 
Not  a  line,  not  a  note,  not  a  thing,  not  one, 
And  she,  she  said,  if  she  must  be  wed, 

A  singer  she'd  have,  or  she'd  have  none, 
For  really  she'd  almost  rather  be  dead 
If  she  couldn't  be  uninterruptedly  fed 
On   an  endless   tonic 
Of  scales  harmonic 
In  every  possible  key, 

An  infinite  series,  never  finished, 
Of  chords  with  all  the  sevenths  diminished, 
And  all  the  intervals  less  than  minor, — 
Surely  nothing  could  be  diviner, 
Nothing!  nothing  at  all,  said  she: 
And  after  breakfast  a  quaver  herni, 
And  after  dinner  a  quaver  demi, 
And  after  supper  a  quaver  semi, 
And  in  between,  for  ever  and  ever, 

Every  possible  kind  of  shake! 
The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  you  see, 

She'd  made  up  her  mind,  beyond  mistake, 
To  offer  her  hand  to  one  of  we ! 
But  which  should  it  be? 
Which  one  of  the  three? 
And  what  of  the  two  who  would  have  to  go? 
What  about  them?  she  said;  that's  it! 
She  didn't  approve  the  idea  a  bit. 
Those  other  two  she  could  never  forget, — 
Just  think  of  them  out  in  the  cold  and  wet! 
Just  think  of  their  terrible,  terrible  woe ! 
She  wanted  to  mam-,  and  yet,  and  yet, 
She'd  never  be  happy,  no  never, 
No  never,  no  never,  no,  no!" 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   103 

"Silence,  fools,"  said  Babadag,  laughing.  "We  are  about 
to  listen  to  a  tale, — a  tale  from  Bald-er-Dash  the  peddler. 
Will  you  proceed  now,  excellent  peddler?" 

"Willingly,"  said  I. 

At  the  sound  of  my  voice,  the  three  blind  men  cried  out 
"Aha  I"  and  broke  into  a  fresh  song : 

"The  peddler   and   the   peddler's  maid,   oh   fair   as  milk  was  she, 
And  she  promised  on  her  honor  she  would  marry  one  of  three, — " 

"Silence,  rascals !"  said  Babadag. 

I  was  becoming,  all  this  while,  more  and  more  restless, 
for  I  had  no  doubt  that  all  this  talk  of  marriage  had  refer- 
ence to  my  own  daughter.  I  wondered  bitterly  what  mis- 
chief she  had  been  up  to  during  my  absence. 

"These  rascals,"  said  Babadag,  still  laughing,  "sometimes 
I  am  minded  to  put  them  to  death.  I  don't  know  really  why 
I  let  them  live.  Now  then,  excellent  one,  let  us  hear  the 
talc." 

I  bowed,  and  while  the  repast  proceeded,  and  the  three 
ballad  singers  remained  standing  behind  our  chairs,  I  re- 
lated to  Babadag,  as  follows, 

THE  STORY  OF  NOBBUD  BALD-ER-DASH  THE  PEDDLER 

"In  the  course  of  my  wanderings,"  I  began,  "I  arrived 
one  day  at  a  spring  in  the  wilderness,  beside  which  were  en- 
camped a  company  of — " 

"/  think,"  said  Solario,  interrupting  himself,  "that  I  can- 
not conscientiously  repeat  this  story,  because — " 

"Oh,  please!"  said  Bojohn.    'We'd  like  to  hear  It." 


io4  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"No,"  said  Solario,  "I  couldn't,  conscientiously,  because 
there  is  not  a  word  of  truth  in  the  story,  and  I  do  not  wish  to 
tell  anything  which  is  not  strictly  true." 

During  my  tale  (said  the  Prince)  I  pretended  now  and 
then  to  take  a  sip  of  wine,  and  to  grow  drowsy,  so  that 
toward  the  end  I  seemed  to  have  difficulty  in  keeping  awake. 
When  I  had  concluded,  Babadag  laughed  and  said,  "I  thank 
you,  peddler.  Never  in  my  life  have  I  heard  such  a  tissue 
of — er — amusing  facts.  Some  more  wine,  peddler." 

I  pretended  to  sip  the  wine  again,  and  let  my  head  fall 
forward  on  my  breast,  and  roused  myself  as  if  with  a  great 
effort. 

"I  am  something,"  said  Babadag,  appearing  to  take  no 
notice  of  my  drowsiness,  "of  a  teller  of  tales  myself.  I 
will  tell  you  in  return  a  story,  and  when  I  have  finished 
you  shall  tell  me  another,  if  you  know  any,  as  you  un- 
doubtedly do." 

Thereupon  he  commenced  a  long  and  detailed  story;  and 
I  could  see  that  as  he  proceeded  he  was  watching  me  from 
the  corner  of  his  eye.  He  had  not  spun  out  his  tale  very  far 
when  my  eyes  closed  and  my  head  nodded;  and  after  an  ap- 
parent effort  to  arouse  myself  I  let  my  head  fall  forward  on 
the  table  and  lie  there  motionless. 

Babadag  instantly  stopped,  raised  my  head  gently,  and 
laying  it  back  against  my  chair  shook  me  roughly,  but  with 
no  effect. 

"Send  in  the  accursed  dogs,"  said  he  in  a  fierce  whisper. 

I  was  aware,  in  a  moment,  that  the  eight  tailors  were 
standing  around  me. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   105 

"The  eyebrows!"  said  Babadag,  and  the  tailors  bent  over 
me  and  began  to  pluck  at  my  eyebrows  with  instruments 
of  some  sort. 

"Oh,  father,  father,"  said  Figli,  "please  don't!" 

"Be  still,  my  son,"  said  Babadag. 

The  Magic  Doublet  Protects  the  Prince  Against  the  Knitters 
of  Eyebrows  and  Against  Goolk  the  Spider 

I  laughed  inwardly,  for  I  was  sure  that,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  my  doublet,  my  eyebrows  would  reappear  as  fast 
as  they  could  be  plucked  out.  And  indeed,  from  the  snort 
of  rage  given  by  Babadag,  I  soon  knew  that  my  eyebrows 
were  safe.  I  could  hear  the  eight  tailors  whispering  to- 
gether, as  if  in  dismay. 

"Goolk!"  said  Babadag,  in  the  same  angry  whisper,  "sting 
me  this  false  peddler!" 

"No,  no,  father,"  said  Figli.     "Not  that,  oh,  please!" 

I  shivered  a  little,  for  I  confess  that  the  thought  of  the 
spider  was  horrifying  to  me.  I  waited  anxiously,  not  daring 
to  open  my  eyelids  even  a  trifle.  I  assure  you  it  was  all  I 
could  do  to  remain'still.  There  was  silence,  and  in  the  midst 
of  it  I  felt  a  tickling  on  my  left  cheek,  and  then  a  kind  of 
pin-prick  there,  and  I  knew  that  the  spider  had  stung  me. 

"Back,  Goolk !"  said  Babadag.  "^ow,  false  peddler  that 
you  are,  be  no  longer  either  a  prince  or  a  peddler,  but  a 
spider, — a  black  spider ! — and  take  your  place  with  Goolk 
in  the  web!  Change!" 

I  felt  no  change,  and  I  heard  another  snort  of  rage  from 
Babadag.  "Some  charm !"  he  muttered.  "Some  charm 


io6  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

protects  him !  Let  us  see  what  charm  this  lying  stranger  car- 
ries upon  him." 

I  felt  that  my  smock  was  being  lifted  from  my  breast,  and 
I  heard  a  kind  of  gasp  from  Babadag.  "The  doublet!"  he 
said.  "It  is  plain!  Off  with  the  doublet!"  And  imme- 
diately fingers  were  at  my  breast,  trying  to  unbutton  the 
doublet. 

But  they  could  not  unbutton  it.  Not  a  button  would 
come  through  its  hole. 

"Fetch  me  a  pair  of  shears,  rascals,"  said  Babadag,  and  in 
a  moment  I  knew  that  shears  were  snapping  away  at  my 
doublet.  But  it  was  no  use ;  the  blade  would  not  cut,  neither 
the  thread  of  the  buttons  nor  the  cloth;  they  held  like  iron 
at  every  point.  I  heard  the  shears  drop  to  the  floor. 

"The  Shears  of  Sharpness !  Bring  me  the  Shears  of 
Sharpness !"  said  Babadag.  "Nothing  else  will  cut  this 
doublet." 

I  heard  a  chuckle,  and  the  voice  of  one  of  the  ballad 
singers  said,  "The  Shears  of  Sharpness,  brothers  1"  And 
there  was  another  chuckle. 

"What!"  said  Babadag.  "You  laugh,  rascals?  You 
dare  to  laugh?" 

"The  Shears  of  Sharpness!"  said  the  voice  of  one  of  the 
ballad  singers.  "Where  are  the  Shears  of  Sharpness, 
brothers?"  And  at  this  there  was  a  very  considerable 
tittering. 

"Ask  the  fair  lady,  brother,"  said  the  voice  of  another  of 
the  ballad  singers. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   107 

"She  knows!  The  wonderful  lady!"  said  the  voice  of 
the  third. 

"Ineffable  scoundrels !"  said  Babadag.  "Have  you  stolen 
my  Shears?" 

"No,  no!  Only  borrowed  them !  What  harm  in  that?" 
.said  the  ballad  singers. 

"Return  them  to  me  at  once !"  said  Babadag. 

I  could  hear  the  ballad  singers  chuckling  together  again. 
"We  would,  we  would,"  said  one  of  them,  "we  meant  to, 
but—" 

"But  what,  beast?" 

"She  has  them,"  said  one  of  the  three. 

"The  most  wonderful  of  women,"  said  another. 

"She  who  swore  she  would  marry  one  of  us,"  said  the 
third. 

The  Prince's  Daughter  Has  Beguiled  the  Shears  of  Sharp- 
ness from  the  Ballad  Singers 

My  daughter !  My  own  daughter !  She  had  beguiled  the 
Shears  from  these  foolish  vagabonds !  Or  had  they  let  her 
have  the  Shears  for  some  purpose  of  their  own — to  help 
their  brother,  say?  I  was  quite  bewildered. 

"Oh,  that  I  should  let  such  scoundrels  live  1"  said  Babadag, 
fiercely.  "Where  is  this  woman?" 

"But  she  wouldn't  marry  us  unless  we  gave  her  the 
Shears,"  said  one  of  the  ballad  singers.  "No  harm  in 
that!" 

"No  harm  in  that,  surely!"  said  the  other  two. 

"Where  is  this  woman?"  said  Babadag  again. 


io8  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"We  left  her,"  said  one  of  the  others,  "by  the  dry  foun- 
tain at  the  governor's  palace." 

"Accursed,"  said  Babadag,  evidently  addressing  the  eight 
tailors,  "pick  up  this  peddler  and  follow  me.  We  must  find 
the  Shears.  You,  imbeciles  that  you  are,  I  will  deal  with 
you  afterward.  Goolk,  back  to  your  web !" 

I  could  not  see  what  became  of  Goolk,  but  I  knew  that 
the  eight  tailors  were  lifting  me  from  my  chair,  and  I  felt 
myself  being  borne  away. 

"Oh,  father!"  cried  Figli.  "You  mustn't!  Please  let 
the  poor  man  go,  oh  please  1" 

"My  son,"  said  Babadag,  in  the  voice  of  tenderness  with 
which  he  always  addressed  his  son,  "he  is  my  enemy.  I 
must  have  him  in  my  power.  Accursed  doublet!" 

A  Light  Flickers  in  the  Dark  Shop 

In  a  moment  I  was  aware  that  we  were  in  the  street,  and 
I  opened  my  eyelids  a  trifle.  The  moon  was  shining.  I 
saw  Babadag  starting  on  before,  with  the  three  ballad 
singers  at  his  back.  Behind,  the  eight  tailors  were  holding 
me  in  a  sitting  posture  between  them.  I  could  see  the  shop 
door,  without  moving  my  head,  and  as  we  started  I  beheld 
Figli,  coming  from  the  door,  in  the  act  of  stowing  away 
something,  I  could  not  see  what,  in  the  bosom  of  his  shirt. 
The  shop  was  dark,  but  as  Figli  closed  the  door  behind  him 
I  noticed,  flickering  from  within,  a  tiny  flame  of  light  which 
had  not  been  there  before.  I  remarked  that  the  boy's 
face  was  very  pale  in  the  moonlight. 

We  came,  after  a  long  journey  through  deserted  streets, 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   109 

to  the  little  hill  which  led  up  to  the  governor's  palace.  We 
entered  the  ruined  park,  and  crossed  it  to  the  mansion. 
Babadag  opened  the  door,  and  the  company  paused  inside, 
listening.  All  was  silent.  I  had  an  impulse  to  shout,  in 
order  to  warn  my  daughter;  but  I  knew  that  that  would 
be  fatal,  and  I  continued  to  lie  inert  and  speechless  in  the 
arms  of  the  tailors.  I  risked  opening  my  eyes  from  time  to 
time,  and  I  saw  that  Babadag  was  leading  the  way  from 
room  to  room,  all  dark  except  for  moonlight  here  and  there 
upon  the  floors,  and  that  he  came  at  last,  followed  by  all 
the  others,  into  the  court  of  the  dry  fountain;  and  there  the 
eight  tailors  laid  me  down  on  the  ground.  My  heart  almost 
stopped  beating,  for  fear  that  my  daughter  should  be  there. 

"Vile  rascals,"  said  Babadag,  "you  have  deceived  mel 
There  is  no  woman  here." 

"Astonishing!"  said  one  of  the  ballad  singers.  "Not 
here !  Who  would  have  thought  it?" 

"I  doubt  that  she  was  ever  here,"  said  Babadag.  "Waitl" 

I  saw  him  go  off  down  the  alley  of  cypress  trees  toward 
the  Cobweb  Room,  no  doubt  to  assure  himself  that  his 
prisoner  was  safe,  or  else  to  seek  the  woman  there.  As 
soon  as  he  was  gone,  I  felt  a  hand  on  my  arm,  and  the  voice 
of  Figli  whispered  in  my  ear,  "Are  you  awake?"  and  I 
pressed  his  hand  in  answer. 

The  Prince's  Daughter  Is  Gone,  and  the  Prince  Makes  a 
Dash  for  Liberty 

The  eight  tailors  were  sitting  on  the  rim  of  the  fountain's 
basin,  mopping  their  foreheads  and  panting,  and  the  blind 


no  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

men  were  standing  near  them.  I  measured  with  my  eye 
the  distance  to  the  door  from  which  I  had  come,  and  gave 
a  sudden  spring  toward  it  which  carried  me  nearly  there ; 
and  I  was  off  and  away,  before  the  eight  tailors  realized 
what  had  happened. 

I  scoured  swiftly  and  silently  through  the  dark  rooms  in 
all  directions,  listening  now  and  then  for  sounds  of  pursuit. 
But  I  heard  nothing,  and  I  began  to  whisper  my  daughter's 
name  from  time  to  time.  In  a  room  far  distant  from  the 
court,  to  which  I  presently  came,  I  found  the  door  at  the 
opposite  side  closed,  which  in  that  house  of  open  doors 
struck  me  as  being  odd.  A  broad  band  of  moonlight  lay 
across  the  floor,  and  in  the  dim  light  I  could  see  the  furnish- 
ings of  a  kitchen.  I  approached  the  opposite  door  and 
opened  it  cautiously,  thinking  to  go  through;  but  I  looked 
into  a  cupboard,  hung  with  pots  and  pans,  and  there  on  the 
floor  of  the  cupboard  was  sitting  my  daughter,  calmly  eating 
a  fig. 

She  looked  up  at  me  with  a  merry  laugh,  and  sprang  to 
her  feet. 

"There  are  very  good  fig  trees  in  the  park,"  said  she. 
"Will  you  have  one  of  these?  No?  You've  been  gone  a 
long  time.  I  heard  some  people  going  through  the  house, 
and  I  thought  I  had  better  wait  in  here.  I'm  going  to  be 
married!" 

"Come,"  said  I,  "we've  no  time  for  jesting." 

"But  it's  the  best  joke!"  said  my  daughter.  "When  I 
think  how  I  played  on  those  half-wits !  I've  never  had 
such  sport  in  my  life !  I  promised  to  marry  one  of  them, 


"Beauty  in  tatters!"  said  Bahadag  the  Tailor 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   in 

if  they'd  choose  which — do  you  remember  the  three  ballad 
singers?" 

"And  you  have  the  Shears  of  Sharpness,"  said  I. 

"How  do  you  know  that?"  said  she.  "They're  simply 
mad!  And  I  wouldn't  promise  them  anything  unless  they 
gave  me  the  Shears.  And  they  didl  And  I  promised! 
And  now  you've  got  to  get  me  out  of  it.  Here  are  the 
Shears.  Take  them." 

"I  suspect,  my  dear,"  said  I,  taking  the  Shears  from  her, 
"that  these  three  imbeciles  meant  that  you  should  have  the 
Shears  all  the  time,  and  they've  been  making  a  bit  of  a 
fool  of  you.  But  there's  no  time  for  talking.  Hurry!" 

I  stepped  quickly  toward  the  door,  and  as  I  reached  it 
it  was  blocked  by  a  huge  dark  figure.  It  was  Babadag. 

"Not  so  fast,  peddler,"  said  he;  and  then  he  saw 
my  daughter,  who  was  standing  in  the  band  of  moonlight, 
most  fairylike  and  beautiful.  He  brushed  past  me  and 
stopped  before  her,  gazing  at  her  in  astonishment  and  ad- 
miration. 

"Beauty  in  tatters!"  he  said.  "No  wonder  that  even 
blind  men  are  conquered.  You  make  me  forget  the  Shears. 
Surely  there  is  no  woman  in  Oogh  so  beautiful.  Will  you 
look  on  me  kindly?  I  am  powerful,  and  I  offer  you  a  share 
of  my  power.  It  is  Babadag  who  speaks." 

He  held  out  his  hand  to  her,  and  she  shrank  away  in 
horror.  "No,  no!"  she  screamed.  "Father!" 

Babadag  turned  swiftly,  and  at  that  moment  I  sprang 
upon  him;  but  the  old  man  snatched  forth  a  knife,  and  as 
I  caught  and  held  the  arm  which  was  lifted  to  strike,  a 


112  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

small  dark  figure  darted  in  from  the  doorway  and  flung 
something  over  the  old  man's  neck  from  behind. 

Babadag  the  Tailor  Is  Conquered  by  His  Little  Son 

The  knife  dropped  from  Babadag's  hand.  He  swayed, 
tottered,  collapsed,  and  fell  full  length  on  the  floor,  and  lay 
motionless  on  his  back  in  the  strip  of  moonlight.  The  little 
dark  figure  knelt  beside  him.  It  was  Figli. 

"Oh,  father!  Oh,  father!"  he  cried.  "I'm  sorry,  sorry! 
I  had  to  do  it!  I  couldn't  let  you  kill  him!  It  can't  go 
on  any  longer!  The  eyebrows  must  be  cut,  father!  It's 
only  to  make  you  like  the  others !  We'll  both  be  happier,  oh, 
indeed  we  will !  It's  only  because  I  love  you,  father  1" 

"I  didn't  think  you  would  have  done  this,  Figli,  my  son," 
said  the  old  man,  gently.  "You  have  put  me  in  the  power 
of  my  enemy.  Ah,  Figli,  my  son,  my  son!" 

"I  know  it,  I  know  it,"  sobbed  the  boy,  "but  the  lady  will 
give  the  Shears  to  me,  and  I  will  cut  the  eyebrows  myself, 
with  my  own  hand.  The  peddler  will  do  you  no  harm. 
You'll  be  glad,  father,  afterward,  indeed  you  will." 

"Ah,  my  son,  my  son!  I  wouldn't  have  thought  it  of 
you,"  said  the  old  man,  still  gently. 

I  knelt  beside  him,  and  found  around  his  neck  a  noose  of 
the  slenderest  thread,  extremely  tough;  and  the  end  of  this 
thread  the  boy  was  holding  in  his  hand.  I  took  it  from  him 
and  looked  at  him  inquiringly. 

"Yes,"  said  the  boy,  "it  was  spun  by  Goolk  the  Spider, 
and  there  is  no  will  can  stand  against  it,  not  even  my 
father's.  It's  the  thing  that  made  him  first  able  to  pluck  out 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   113 

the  eyebrows  of  the  people.  I  stole  it  as  we  left  the  shop 
to-night.  You  won't  do  him  any  harm,  will  you?" 

I  stood  up,  keeping  the  end  of  the  thread  in  my  hand.  A 
patter  of  running  feet  sounded  from  the  next  room,  and 
the  eight  tailors  crowded  in  at  the  doorway.  They  rushed 
to  their  master,  and  wailed  and  wrung  their  hands.  One 
of  them  drew  a  pair  of  shears,  and  began  to  snip  away  at 
the  thread,  but  it  was  plain  that  no  ordinary  blade  would 
cut  it,  and  the  tailor  gave  it  up,  and  the  other  seven  wailed 
louder  than  before. 

"Lift  up  this  knave,"  I  said,  "and  follow  me." 

The  eight  tailors  obeyed  instantly,  and  our  party  started 
back  to  the  court  of  the  dry  fountain.  I  walked  beside 
the  body  of  Babadag,  keeping  close  hold  of  the  thread. 
When  we  reached  the  court,  the  three  ballad  singers  were 
sitting  calmly  on  the  rim  of  the  basin,  singing  softly  to 
themselves.  My  daughter,  ever  incorrigible,  greeted  them 
with  an  amused  laugh,  and  they  crowded  around  her,  each 
trying  to  elbow  the  others  out  of  the  way.  At  my  command, 
the  eight  tailors  laid  Babadag  down  on  his  back  in  the  dry 
basin.  I  then  gave  the  end  of  the  thread  into  the  hand 
of  my  daughter,  and  left  them. 

I  ran  down  the  cypress  alley  to  the  deserted  audience 
chamber.  I  looked  through  the  cobweb  at  Urban,  and  by 
the  dim  light  of  the  high  window  saw  him  sitting  there 
motionless  as  stone,  in  the  same  attitude  as  before. 

"I  am  here!"  I  cried,  but  he  neither  moved  nor  spoke. 
I  applied  the  Shears,  and  in  a  moment  the  cobweb  was 
hanging  in  shreds,  and  I  was  standing  beside  my  friend.  I 


n4  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

tried  to  pull  him  up,  but  I  could  not  budge  him.  I  lifted 
the  golden  chain  from  around  his  neck,  and  dropped  it  to 
the  floor.  Immediately  he  raised  his  head,  stretched  his 
arms,  looked  up  at  me  as  if  awaking  from  a  dream,  and 
sprang  to  his  feet. 

"Prince  1"  he  cried,  and  threw  his  arms  about  me  in  a 
transport  of  joy. 

I  calmed  him,  and  when  he  had  recovered  himself  he  said, 
"What  of  Babadag?" 

"He  is  in  the  court  at  this  moment,"  said  I,  "bound  fast." 

"Good  news  indeed!"  he  cried.     "Let  us  go!" 

The  Governor,  Being  Released,  Beholds  the  Prince's 
Daughter 

We  sped  back  to  the  court,  and  when  Urban  beheld 
my  daughter  he  scattered  the  blind  men  right  and  left  and 
clasped  her  hand  in  his.  I  took  from  her  the  end  of  the 
thread  and  knelt  in  the  basin  beside  the  huge  body  of 
Babadag,  and  gazed  down  into  his  eyes,  glittering  up  at  me 
in  the  moonlight  through  their  tangle  of  hair.  I  drew  the 
Shears." 

"No,  no!"  cried  the  boy.  "You  must  not!  Give  me  the 
Shears !  I  must  do  it,  for  you  do  not  love  him,  and  I  do ! 
Only  the  hand  of  love !  Give  me  the  Shears !" 

"No  time  for  talking!"  I  cried.  "This  is  no  child's  play. 
Work  for  a  man!  And  I  trust  no  one  but  myself!  Now 
for  the  shearing  of  the  Eyebrow !" 

The  boy  shrieked,  as  if  in  despair,  and  with  a  mighty  snap 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    115 

of  the  Shears  I  cut  in  among  the  hairs  of  Babadag's  left 
eyebrow. 

The  Shearing  of  the  Eyebrow 

A  spout  of  yellow  smoke  shot  upward  from  his  eyebrow, 
and  whirled  and  spread  outward  in  a  cloud,  thick,  sickening, 
blinding,  pierced  with  wriggling  pencils  of  light,  as  if  tiny 
snakes  had  been  set  riotously  free.  It  covered  us  both,  so 
that  he  was  suddenly  hidden  from  my  sight.  I  gasped 
and  choked.  My  eyes  smarted  with  pain.  I  snapped  blindly 
away  at  him  through  the  smoke  with  my  Shears,  resolved 
not  to  be  foiled.  There  was  a  sharp  crack,  as  of  the  snap- 
ping of  a  whip;  the  Shears  had  cut, — alas,  alas! — not  the 
Eyebrow,  but  the  thread  around  Babadag's  neck  I  Instantly 
the  Shears  were  wrenched  from  my  hand,  I  did  not  know 
how;  and  I  felt  them  ripping  through  my  smock,  and  I 
knew  that  some  injury  had  been  done  to  my  doublet.  A 
terrible  voice  bellowed,  "Hither,  accursed  dogs,  and  bind 
me  this  peddler !"  And  the  next  moment  I  was  lying  on 
my  back,  with  the  thread  fastened  securely  about  my  neck; 
and  my  strength  was  suddenly  gone,  and  the  smoke  began 
to  clear  away. 

I  saw  the  old  man  put  his  arm  tenderly  about  his  son,  and 
heard  him  say,  "It's  all  right  now,  my  boy.  I  am  not  angry. 
You  have  put  your  father  in  great  danger,  but  not  from 
malice;  I  know  it  well.  Don't  be  grieved;  we'll  laugh  about 
it  together,  hereafter.  All's  well  again.  Come,  Figli,  my 
son.  Rascals,  follow  me!" 


n6  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

He  stalked  away  with  his  son  down  the  cypress  alley, 
and  the  eight  tailors  lifted  me  and  bore  me  after,  followed 
by  my  daughter  and  my  friend.  I  looked  for  the  three  blind 
ballad  singers,  but  they  were  gone.  I  was  in  terrible  danger, 
and  I  bitterly  regretted  my  haste  in  refusing  the  Shears 
to  the  boy. 

The  Prince  before  the  Seat  of  Judgment 

In  the  circular  audience  chamber  they  laid  me  down  upon 
the  floor.  Babadag,  grotesque  and  somber  in  the  darkness, 
seated  himself  in  the  marble  armchair  on  the  dai's;  and  at 
the  same  time  I  heard,  or  fancied  I  heard,  the  voices  of  the 
ballad  singers,  afar  off  somewhere  in  the  palace,  singing 
away  at  one  of  their  songs. 

"Pluck  out  the  hairs!"  said  Babadag. 

"No,  no!"  said  Figli,  lying  on  the  step  of  the  da'i's  at  his 
father's  feet. 

"Quick,  scoundrels!"  said  Babadag;  and  the  eight  tailors, 
kneeling  around  me,  plucked  out  with  tiny  instruments  all 
the  hairs  of  my  eyebrows,  by  the  roots.  Then,  at  a  sign 
from  their  master,  they  stood  me  on  my  feet  and  removed 
the  spider's  thread  from  around  my  neck.  My  strength  re- 
turned, and  I  found  myself  able  to  stand  alone. 

"Gone  is  your  power,  maker  of  fables!"  said  Babadag. 
"The  doublet  is  worthless.  See  1"  And  he  held  up  what 
appeared  to  be  the  thread  of  a  button.  My  smock  was  in 
strips,  and  the  doublet  was  exposed  to  view.  One  button 
was  missing.  What  had  become  of  it?  Babadag  exhibited 
only  the  thread. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   117 

"Dog  of  a  peddler,"  said  he,  "it  is  your  due  that  I  give 
you  to  Goolk  the  Spider  for  his  web." 

"Spare  him!  Spare  him!"  said  Figli,  in  a  kind  of  moan, 
rocking  himself  back  and  forth  on  the  step  of  the  dais. 

"But  Babadag  is  merciful,"  went  on  the  old  man,  "and 
loves  a  tale ;  and  never  have  I  heard  so  amusing  a  tissue  of 
lies  as  that  tale  of  Bald-er-Dash  the  Peddler.  For  that, 
and  for  the  pleasure  I  shall  have  in  repeating  that  tale 
hereafter,  I  spare  you.  You  are  harmless.  Go  !  and  as  you 
have  chosen  to  darken  your  skin  with  juices,  let  it  be  darker 
still.  Go !  and  be  you  henceforth  as  black  as  night.  I  will 
lead  you  to  the  palace  gate,  and  speed  you,  with  your 
daughter  and  your  friend,  on  your  journey  away  from 
Oogh.  Return  no  more,  peddler,  for  the  web  awaits  you, 
and  Goolk  the  Spider  longs  for  a  brother." 

He  stepped  down  from  his  seat,  and  we  others  followed 
him  in  silence.  I  was  conscious  of  no  will  to  resist  him 
further.  We  came  to  the  court  of  the  dry  fountain,  and 
there  my  daughter  looked  into  my  face  in  the  moonlight. 
She  screamed. 

We  followed  mournfully  through  the  dark  rooms,  and 
came  out  on  the  steps  before  the  palace;  and  there  we  saw 
a  sight  both  terrible  and  beautiful. 

The  Doom  of  the  City  of  Oogh 

The  city  was  in  flames.  From  every  roof,  as  far  as  we 
could  see,  rose  sheets  of  fire,  and  sparks  showered  upward 
into  a  pall  of  black  smoke;  and  as  we  watched,  new  tongues 


n8  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

of  flame  blazed  up  from  quarters  dark  before.  The  city 
was  doomed. 

"Ah!"  said  Babadag  with  a  groan.    "My  city,  my  city!" 

"What  have  I  done?  What  have  I  done?"  cried  Figli, 
wringing  his  hands  in  anguish. 

"You,  my  son?  What  have  you  to  do  with  this?"  said  his 
father,  never  taking  his  eyes  from  the  burning  city. 

"It's  my  work!"  cried  the  boy.  "But  I  never  dreamed 
of  this !  I  set  fire  to  the  shop,  our  shop,  before  I  left, — to 
burn  up  all  the  black  secrets  in  my  father's  house,  and  to 
kill  Goolk  the  Spider,  to  kill  him,  kill  him,  so  that  he  would 
never  get  the  Blind  Bowler,  nor  any  one  else !  So  that  all 
the  old  riches  and  wickedness  might  be  burned  up  forever ! 
And  now,  and  now,  I  haven't  destroyed  the  Eyebrow,  and 
I've  burned  up  the  city!  Oh,  what  shall  I  do?  What  shall 
I  do?" 

"My  son,  my  son,"  said  Babadag,  quietly,  never  taking 
his  eyes  from  the  burning  city. 

I  recalled  now  the  spark  of  fire  I  had  seen  through  the 
window  as  we  had  left  the  tailor's  shop  that  night. 

The  flames  of  the  furnace  below  us  shot  higher  and 
higher,  and  spread  wider  and  wider  in  every  direction. 

"The  Book  of  the  Shavian  Magic,"  said  Babadag,  as  if 
to  himself.  "That  must  be  saved." 

He  ran  down  the  steps  and  started  across  the  park. 

"Father!  father!  where  are  you  going?"  cried  Figli, 
but  his  father  paid  no  attention.  The  boy  sped  after  him, 
and  we  others  followed. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   119 

The  Tailor's  Son  Follows  Him  into  the  Burning  City 

Out  at  the  park  gate  and  down  the  hill  ran  Babadag,  and 
straight  into  the  blazing  ruin  which  was  once  his  city. 
Nothing  could  stop  him.  Flames  roared  on  both  sides  of 
him;  sparks  showered  around  him;  walls  toppled  behind 
him;  smoke  swallowed  him;  but  he  kept  on.  We  paused 
in  terror ;  only  his  little  boy  continued  to  follow  him,  calling 
to  him  to  come  back. 

A  wall  of  flame  shot  out  behind  the  running  boy,  and  a 
house  fell  crashing  behind  him  into  the  street;  and  father 
and  boy  were  no  longer  to  be  seen. 

I  turned  away,  and  leaving  the  eight  tailors  wailing,  I 
made  my  way  with  my  daughter  and  my  friend  back  to  the 
palace ;  and  there,  on  the  palace  steps,  we  sat  all  night  long, 
watching  the  great  fire  burn  itself  out. 

The  sun  rose  on  a  city  of  smoking  ruins;  and  with  its  first 
rays  there  came  plodding  in  through  the  park  gate  a  blind 
man,  who  called  aloud  as  he  reached  the  steps.  It  was  the 
Blind  Bowler. 

"I  am  here,"  said  I,  "Figli's  friend;  and  my  daughter  too, 
and  the  governor  whom  once  you  tried  to  help.  What 
news?" 

"Ten  strikes  still  lacking!"  said  the  Blind  Bowler.  "But 
it  makes  no  difference  now.  Figli  has  saved  me,  and  all 
the  rest  of  us  too.  Come  with  me." 

He  led  us  out  into  the  street  and  down  into  the  city, 
where  the  homeless  people  were  standing  as  if  bewildered. 
We  came  into  the  street  where  once  had  been  the  shop  of 


120  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

Babadag  the  Tailor.  It  was  there  no  longer;  but  by  some 
chance  there  yet  remained  the  wall  which  held  the  doorway, 
and  above  it  the  yardstick  and  the  shears;  and  across  the 
sill  lay  Figli,  on  his  face. 

The  Boy  Is  Found  on  the  Sill  of  His  Ruined  Home,  Alive 

My  daughter  ran  to  him  and  put  her  arm  about  him.  He 
was  alive,  and  he  shook  his  head  and  moaned,  "I  want  my 
father.  I  want  my  father." 

"Yes,"  said  she,  "your  father.     Is  he—?" 

"In  there,"  he  whispered. 

"Ah!     He  is— " 

"Under  the  wall.    I  saw  it  fall  on  him.    He  is  in  there." 

"Oh,  my  poor  boy!" 

"I  killed  him.    And  all  I  wanted  was  to  make  him  good." 

She  put  her  arm  under  him  and  raised  him,  and  he  stood 
up. 

"Come  with  me,  dear  boy,"  said  she. 

"I  can't  go  away.  I  can't  leave  him  in  there.  Can't  you 
help  me  to  see  him?" 

"Not  now,  but  later,  perhaps.  Come  with  me  now,  and 
we  will  talk  of  him  together." 

"He  loved  me,  too.  He  did,  didn't  he?  And  I  killed 
him." 

"Yes,  he  did,  he  did.     But  you  mustn't  say  that  you — " 

"It  wasn't  because  I  meant  to  harm  him,  was  it?  I 
wouldn't  have  harmed  him,  would  I?" 

"No,  no.  It  was  just  because  you  loved  him,  that  was 
all." 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    121 

"Yes,  that  was  it.    That  was  all  it  was." 

He  suffered  her  to  lead  him  away,  and  he  said  nothing 
more,  but  repeated  to  himself,  once  or  twice,  "That  was 
all  it  was." 

On  my  part,  I  spoke  at  length  to  the  Blind  Bowler,  and 
gave  him  many  directions;  and  he,  having  received  at  my 
hands  a  purse  of  gold,  for  use  as  I  had  instructed  him,  went 
his  way;  and  we  others  then  walked  slowly  back  to  the 
palace,  where  we  rested  on  the  steps,  waiting,  and  Figli  fell 
asleep  with  his  head  on  my  daughter's  shoulder. 

When  the  sun  was  high  in  the  east,  people  began  to 
come  in  at  the  park  gate,  and  the  Blind  Bowler,  his  first 
duty  done,  joined  us  on  the  palace  steps.  More  people 
came,  and  the  park  began  to  be  filled  with  them;  they  came 
before  long  in  a  steady  stream,  and  at  length  the  park  was 
crowded  with  a  great  multitude,  from  the  steps  to  the 
gate. 

At  a  signal  from  myself,  my  party  on  the  steps  arose,  and 
I  addressed  the  people  of  Oogh.  I  told  them  who  I  was, 
and  how  my  skin  had  come  to  be  black;  I  told  them  that  I 
was  going  away,  and  that  their  governor  was  resolved  to 
go  with  me;  that  I  meant  to  leave  a  governor  who  would 
help  them  rebuild  their  city,  and  lead  them  in  the  ways  of 
goodness  and  mercy;  that  the  person  whom  I  had  selected 
for  that  office  was  the  boy  known  as  Figli  Babadag,  whose 
soundness  of  heart  was  worth  to  them  more  than  the  wisdom 
of  years;  and  that  such  wisdom  as  was  necessary  would  be 
supplied  by  him  who  was  called  the  Blind  Bowler,  a  man 
who  had  known  how  to  be  cheerful  under  affliction.  And  I 


122  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

asked  them  to  say  whether  they  would  have  the  boy  Figli 
for  their  governor,  and  the  Blind  Bowler  for  his  aide. 

A  shout  of  approval  went  up  from  the  multitude. 

"And  will  you,"  said  I,  turning  to  Figli,  "lead  these  people 
in  the  ways  of  goodness  and  mercy,  and  help  them  to 
forget?" 

"If  you  think  I  can,"  said  Figli,  standing  up  very  straight, 
"I  will  try." 

"And  will  you,"  said  I  to  the  Blind  Bowler,  "keep  faith- 
fully at  his  right  hand,  and  never  fail  him?" 

"That  I  will!"  said  the  Blind  Bowler.  "Keep  everlast- 
ingly at  it,  that's  the  motto !" 

"The  great  King,  my  father,"  said  I,  turning  again  to  the 
people,  "will  build  your  city  ten  times  fairer  than  it  was.  I 
have  given  directions  for  your  help  already,  and  food  and 
shelter  will  soon  be  at  hand.  Farewell !  I  leave  you  in  the 
care  of  a  blind  man  and  a  child !  A  sound  heart  and  a  cheer- 
ful mind,  my  friends,  are  better  than  an  army.  Farewell !" 

The  multitude  shouted  back  farewell,  and  my  friend 
Urban  and  myself  each  kissed  Figli  on  the  cheek;  but  my 
daughter  kissed  him  on  both  cheeks  and  hugged  him  to  her 
heart;  and  then  we  went  down  the  steps,  leaving  the  pale 
and  beautiful  boy  and  the  blind  man  alone,  and  passed  out 
across  the  park  through  a  lane  opened  in  the  crowd,  down 
into  the  city  toward  the  city  gate. 

The  Eight  Tailors  Stand  Before  Them  in  a  Row 

As  we  came  to  the  last  street  corner  before  reaching  the 
city  wall,  my  daughter  pulled  forth  a  handful  of  figs  from 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    123 

her  pocket  and  divided  them  laughingly  with  Urban  and 
myself;  and  at  that  moment  a  party  of  eight  men  filed 
solemnly  from  around  the  corner,  and  came  to  a  stop  be- 
fore us  in  a  row.  It  was  the  eight  tailors.  They  bowed 
gravely,  and  the  first  one  of  them  said: 

"Excellency,  we  implore  you  to  take  pity  upon  us.  Our 
master  is  gone,  our  occupation  is  gone,  we  are  friendless 
and  alone;  we  can  live  no  longer  in  the  city  of  Oogh." 

"What  do  you  wish  me  to  do?"  said  I. 

"We  beseech  you  to  take  us  with  you,  to  be  your  servants, 
your  slaves,  anything.  We  can  sew,  we  can  knit,  we 
can—" 

"But  I  am  going  into  exile,"  said  I.  "I  am  going  to  hide 
my  hideous  face  from  the  eyes  of  the  world." 

"Listen,  most  merciful  one !  It  is  known  to  us  that  the 
missing  button  needs  only  to  be  sewn  on  the  doublet  by  a 
tailor,  with  the  proper  thread,  in  order  that  your  skin 
may  be  white  again.  Nine  tailors  are  allowed  for  the  trial, 
and  here  are  eight!" 

"But  I  have  neither  the  button  nor  the  thread." 

"No  matter !  We  will  search  until  we  find  them,  or  else 
turn  black  ourselves  in  the  trial.  Have  pity  upon  us, 
Prince!" 

"Oh,  father,"  said  my  daughter,  "do  let  the  poor  things 
come  along  with  us." 

"Very  well,"  said  I,  whereupon  we  walked  on,  and  the 
eight  tailors  gave  a  faint  cheer  and  fell  into  line  behind  us. 


124  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

They  Meet  the  Three  Blind  Ballad  Singers  for  the  Last 

Time 

As  we  passed  through  the  city  gate,  a  loud  singing  struck 
up  just  outside  the  wall,  and  we  beheld  the  three  blind 
ballad  singers,  in  the  midst  of  a  dozen  idlers,  prancing  up 
and  down  in  their  ridiculous  dance.  They  were  shouting 
out  one  of  their  ballads,  as  follows : 

"The  peddler  came,  the  peddler  went,  the  peddler  lost  his  pack, 
He  came  in  honest  walnut  brown,  he  went  away  in  black, 

And  'Oh!'  said  the  peddler,  'I  cannot  come  again, 

For  out  of  buttons  ten,  oh !  only  nine  remain, 
Only  nine  remain,' — " 

My  daughter  laughed  aloud,  and  at  the  sound  of  her 
voice  one  of  the  ballad  singers  cried  out,  "Ho !  master  black- 
face !  Ballads  or  buttons,  what  will  you  buy?" 

The  idlers  laughed,  and  the  other  two  vagabonds  sang 
out: 

"Ballads  or  buttons!  Buy,  master  blackface!  Ballads 
or  buttons !" 

"What  will  you  give  for  a  button?"  shouted  the  first,  and 
he  held  up  in  my  view  a  large  ivory  button,  the  identical 
one,  beyond  a  doubt,  which  was  missing  from  the  doublet. 

"A  fig  for  a  button!"  I  said,  and  held  out  one  of  the  figs 
in  my  hand. 

"A  button  for  a  fig!  A  bargain!"  cried  the  first  ballad 
singer,  and  taking  the  fig  from  me  placed  the  button  in 
my  hand. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    125 

The  idlers  laughed  at  this  nonsense,  and  we  turned  to  go. 

"Farewell,  farewell !"  cried  the  first  ballad  singer.  "What 
do  we  say  to  the  breaker  of  hearts  who  forgets  her  promise 
to  marry?"  The  other  two  laughed,  and  began  to  sing. 

We  moved  on  down  the  road,  followed  by  the  tailors 
marching  by  fours,  and  as  we  departed  we  heard  behind  us 
the  voices  of  the  blind  ballad  singers  for  the  last  time, 
shouting  out  a  song  in  this  wise : 


"She  said  that  she  wanted  to  marry  all  three, 

Fiddle-de-dee!     Fiddle-de-dee! 
And  it  broke  her  heart  that  it  could  not  be, 
But  'Oh !'  said  she,  'y°u  must  all  agree 
On  one  who  shall  be  the  fortunate  he, 

For  only  one  can  I  marry!' 
But  oh !  she  would  not  wait  to  see, 

And  oh!   she  would  not  tarry, 
For  all  that  she  said  to  the  artless  three 

Was  nothing  but  fiddle-de-dee, 
Ah  me! 

Was  nothing  but  fiddle-de-dee  I" 


THE  FOURTH  NIGHT 


THE  RAGPICKER  AND  THE  PRINCESS 

r  j  iHE    Queen   said,    "Domino!"    very     sweetly,    and 
I        smiled  at  the  Second  Lady  in  Waiting,  who  was 

much  chagrined. 

"I  don't  see  how  I  could  have  been  so  stupid,"  said  the 
Second  Lady  in  Waiting. 

"Indeed,  my  dear,"  said  the  Queen,  kindly,  "I  don't  think 
you  were  nearly  so  stupid  as  usual/' 

At  this  moment  the  Princess  Dorobel,  with  Prince  Bilbo 
and  their  son  Bojohn,  and  the  latter' s  friend  Bodkin,  came 
in  from  the  throne  room,  and  the  Princess  Dorobel,  stand- 
ing behind  the  Queen's  chair,  said: 

126 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    127 

"Mother,  we  are  going  to  hear  a  story,  and  Bojohn  in- 
sists that  you — " 

"Yes,  grandmother!"  said  Bojohn.  "We  are  going  to 
ask  Solario  for  another  story,  and  you  must  come  along 


too." 


"Dear  me,"  said  the  Queen.  "I  must  put  away  the 
dominoes  first." 

She  stacked  them  neatly  in  the  box,  one  by  one,  and  when 
this  was  done  she  rose,  and  Bojohn  took  her  arm  and  led 
her  through  the  throne  room  where  the  King  was  engaged  at 
chess  with  the  Lord  Chamberlain. 

"My  dear"  said  the  Queen  to  the  King,  "you  had  better 
come  with  us.  We  are  going  to — " 

"It  makes  no  difference  to  me,"  said  the  King.  "You  can 
have  the  bishop  if  you  want  him.  But  I've  got  your  queen! 
How  do  you  like  that?  It's  your  move!  Go  on,  why  don't 
you  move?" 

"It's  no  use,  grandmother,"  said  Bojohn.    "Come  along." 

They  left  the  King  at  his  game,  and  proceeded  to  the  room 
of  Solario  the  Tailor  in  the  tower.  They  were  admitted  by 
Solario  himself. 

In  the  center  of  the  room  stood  Mortimer  the  Execu- 
tioner. He  was  wearing  an  unfinished  garment  without  any 
sleeves,  fastened  together  with  pins,  and  basted  with  white 
thread  along  the  seams.  He  looked  extremely  foolish. 

"Oh!"  said  Solario,  covered  with  confusion.  "Pray  come 
in,  come  in!  Her  majesty  herself!  This  is  indeed  an  honor! 
I  will  find  more  chairs  in  the  next  room.  I  am  overpowered 
by  this  honor.  Pray  be  seated,  your  majesty.  Mortimer, 


128  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

the  fitting  is  postponed.  Pray  be  seated,  your  majesty.  I  do 
not  know  when  I  have  received  the  honor  of  such  a  visit. 
Pray  be  seated.  Mortimer,  bring  in  some  chairs.  I  beg 
your  majesty  to  take  the  other  chair;  it  is  far  more  com- 
fortable. Mortimer,  divest  yourself;  divest  yourself." 

Mortimer,  red  with  embarrassment,  took  off  the  unfinished 
garment  and  put  on  his  old  one.  Solario  ran  from  chair  to 
chair,  assisting  each  of  the  party  to  a  seat. 

"We  have  come  for  a  story,"  said  Prince  Bilbo,  "and  I 
hope  that  you  will  be  so  good  as  to — " 

"We  want  to  hear  about  Montesango's  Cave!"  cried 
Bojohn. 

"Or  the  Blind  Giant!"  said  Bodkin. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  Solario,  "perhaps  her  majesty 
would  deign  to — " 

"Ask  him  for  Montesango's  Cave,  grandmother!"  cried 
Bojohn. 

"Dear  me"  said  the  Queen,  "I  hardly  know  what  to — 
It's  a  very  pleasant  room  you  have  here,  Solario;  do  you 
ever  play  dominoes  here?  Dear  me!" 

"I'll  tell  you  what  I  should  like"  said  the  Princess  Doro- 
bel.  "I  should  like  to  hear  how  the  goldsmith's  son  won  the 
Princess.  Bojohn  has  been  telling  us  about  Alb  and  the 
^Princess  Hyla,  and  I  understand  there  is  a  story,  a  love 
story — you  know  I  dearly  like  love  stories." 

"It  isn't  precisely  a  love  story,"  said  Solario,  "but  if  her 
majesty  will  permit  me,  I  will — " 

"Dear  me,  yes,"  said  the  Queen.  "A  very  comfortable 
room  it  is,  to  be  sure." 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   129 

Solaria,  after  receiving  the  Queen's  permission  to  be 
seated,  sat  himself  cross-legged  on  his  table,  and  all  of  the 
others,  Mortimer  the  Executioner,  Bodkin,  Prince  Bilbo, 
Bojohn,  the  Princess  Dorobel,  and  the  Queen,  drew  up  their 
chairs  before  him  in  a  row. 

"I  will  relate  to  you,  seeing  that  you  wish  it"  said  Solaria, 
"the  story  told  me  by  Alb,  the  goldsmith's  son,  regarding 
the  winning  of  the  Princess  Hyla.  Shall  I  proceed?" 

"I  wish  I  had  brought  my  knitting,"  said  the  Queen,  "but 
never  mind" 

Solaria  picked  up  his  shears,  and  gazing  at  them  thought- 
fully for  a  moment,  cleared  his  throat. 

"This,  then,"  said  he,  "is  the  story  told  me  by  Alb,  re- 
garding 

"THE  RAGPICKER  AND  THE  PRINCESS." 

When  I  was  sixteen  years  old  (said  Alb  the  Fortunate) 
and  my  dear  Princess  Hyla  fourteen,  the  King,  her  father, 
sojourned  for  a  time  at  his  castle  of  Ventamere,  beside  the 
sea;  and  you  may  be  sure  that  the  Princess  was  with  him 
there,  for  he  could  never  bear  to  be  parted  from  her  for  a 
single  day. 

My  father  followed  in  the  King's  train,  and  I,  on  my  part, 
was  not  to  be  left  behind;  and  we  lodged  together,  my 
father  and  myself,  in  the  town  hard  by  the  castle,  where 
I  saw  the  Princess  every  day,  and  daily  grew  in  favor  with 
her  father. 

The  windows  of  the  King's  castle  looked  out  across  the 


130  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

Great  Sea,  and  beneath  the  windows  of  the  Princess's  room 
the  tide  washed  up  and  down  against  the  wall. 

One  evening,  as  it  was  growing  dusk,  and  the  moon  was 
beginning  to  tinge  a  wave  here  and  there  with  silver,  the 
Princess  was  leaning  out  from  her  window  and  looking 
across  the  sea —  But  what  I  am  now  to  tell  you  I  did  not 
know  at  the  time,  as  you  will  understand,  but  only  later. 

Night  fell,  and  still  the  Princess  leaned  upon  her  hand 
and  gazed  out  across  the  sea.  I  do  not  know  whether  she 
was  thinking  of  me,  but — However.  In  the  town  of  Ven- 
tamere  near  by,  where  the  shore  curved  inward  in  a  bay, 
lights  began  to  glimmer,  but  the  castle  was  dark,  for  the 
King,  intending  to  commence  at  daybreak  his  journey  back 
to  his  capital,  was  already  a-bed. 

The  Princess  Hears  a  Voice  from  the  Waves  Beneath  Her 

Window 

The  Princess,  beginning  to  be  drowsy,  reached  out  her 
hand  to  close  the  casement  of  her  window;  and  as  she  did 
so  she  heard  a  voice,  a  melancholy  voice,  not  loud,  as  of 
a  young  man  singing  to  himself,  directly  beneath  her  win- 
dow. She  started  in  astonishment  and  looked  down,  but 
she  could  see  no  one.  The  moonlight  glittered  on  the  sea  to 
the  very  base  of  her  wall ;  there  was  no  foothold  anywhere 
for  a  human  foot;  but  the  voice  rose  nevertheless  from  just 
below  her  in  the  restless  waters,  and  it  was  singing  a  kind  of 
lament,  pausing  once  to  put  in  a  few  spoken  words,  in 
this  wise : 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   131 

"O  quivering  seas  that  sever, 

O  quivering  severing  sea ! 
And  I  would  I  could  sing  forever 

The  sorrows  that  sleep  in  me, — 
The  soundless  sundering  sorrows, 
The  shuddering  secret  sorrows, 
The  sorrows  secret  and  soundless, 

That  sleep  in  the  soul  of  me. 
And  O!  the  vain  endeavor! 

The  silence  and  the  pain! 
The  silence  that  now  shall  never 

Sink  into  the  sea  again! 
(That's  a  very  good  line,  though, 
about  silence  sinking  into  the  sea. 
It  sounds  a  good  deal  like  real 
poetry.    Anyway — ) 
Of  such  would  I  sing  forever, 

And  sighing  forever  sing, 
But  alas,  I  never  was  clever 

At  all  that  sort  of  thing, 
And  though  I  would  chant  forever 
By  quivering  seas  that  sever 
And  severing  seas  that  quiver 

A  ceaseless  sorrowing  song, 
I  cannot  sing  forever, 

For  that  would  be  too  long." 

The  Princess  waited,  and  the  voice  began  again.  It 
seemed  farther  out  on  the  water  now,  as  if  the  singer  were 
moving  out  to  sea.  The  words  appeared  to  her  to  be  so 
strange  that  she  never  forgot  them,  and  I  am  able  to  repeat 
them  to  you  precisely  as  she  gave  them  to  me  afterward. 


I32  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"O  weary  the  sea's  commotion, 

And  weary  the  sea  tides'  fret, 
The  fretful  tides  of  the  ocean 

How  weary  and  how  wet! 
The  humid  hateful  ocean 
The  hideous  heedless  ocean, 
The  ocean  huge  and  humid, 

That  always  will  be  wet! 
(If  I  could  only  once  get  thoroughly 
dry,  just  for  a  single  day!     It  makes 
me  weary,  the  way  they  go  on  about  a 
life  on  the  ocean  wave.     I  only  wish 
they  had  to  live  in  it  all  the  time.) 
And  O !  for  a  seat  on  the  settle 

Beside  the  ingle  nook! 
And  O!  for  the  steaming  kettle! 

And  O!  for  a  human  cook! 
I  hear,  on  the  soft  breeze  sighing, 
The  sorrowful  soft  breeze  dying, 

I  hear,  as  it  sighs  and  rustles, 
The  music  of  bacon   frying, 

And  O,  I  long  to  be  free! 
(If   I   could   only  get  ashore  on   two 
feet,  for  just  one  hour,  I  know  where 
I'd  go.     I  know  a  good  warm  tavern 
where — ) 

O  dear!  could  I  only  be  free! 
For  a  diet  of  fish  and  mussels, 
Of  cold  raw  fish  and  mussels, 

Did  never  agree  with  me." 

The  voice  moved  off  across  the  sea,  and  died  away  in  the 
distance. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    133 

"Dear  me!"  said  the  Queen.  "What  an  extraordinary 
song!  And  so  sad,  too." 

"Never  mind,  grandmother,"  said  Bojohn.  "Please  let 
him  go  on  with  his  story" 

"Yes,  yes,  of  course"  said  the  Queen,  "let  the  poor  man 
go  on  with  his  story.  I  wonder  how  he  remembers  all  those 
words.  I'm  sure  I  never  could  have  remembered  them.  I've 
a  very  poor  memory  for  songs,  myself.  It's  different  with 
the  King;  I  declare  he  never  forgets  anything.  I  remember 
there  was  a  minstrel  came  to  the  castle  once,  and  after  he  was 
gone  the  King  repeated  word  for  word — " 

"Please,  grandmother"  said  Bojohn. 

'What  is  it,  my  dear?" 

"Solario  is  waiting  to  go  on  with  his  story." 

"So  he  is,"  said  the  Queen.  "I  think  it's  a  very  pretty 
story  indeed.  I  wonder  how  it  ends!" 

"Go  on!"  cried  Bojohn,  and  Solario  proceeded. 

The  Princess  lingered,  hoping  to  hear  the  voice  again, 
but  it  came  no  more.  She  turned  back  into  her  room  and  lit 
the  lamp  which  hung  from  the  center  of  the  ceiling.  She 
stood  before  her  mirror,  with  the  lamp  at  her  back,  and  as 
she  raised  her  hand  to  unfasten  the  pearl  necklace  which 
she  wore,  she  glanced  at  the  wall  beside  the  mirror.  Her 
shadow,  thrown  by  the  lamp,  stood  upright  against  the 
wall.  And  at  that  moment  she  saw  something  which  caused 
her  to  stiffen  with  terror. 


134  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

The  Princess  Sees  the  Shadow  of  an  Old  Woman 

Through  the  crack  of  her  closed  door  at  the  right  of  her 
shadow,  another  shadow  was  oozing  in  and  spreading  itself 
out  across  the  wall  toward  her  own.  It  took  shape,  and 
paused  for  a  moment;  it  was  the  shadow  of  a  bent  old 
woman,  stooping  under  a  heavy  bag,  and  holding  out  in 
one  hand  a  kind  of  poker  with  a  hook  at  the  end. 

The  Princess  held  her  breath.  The  stooping  shadow 
stole  slowly  along  the  wall,  and  touched  the  Princess's 
shadow  with  its  poker.  Instantly  the  Princess's  shadow  be- 
gan to  move  toward  the  other,  and  the  other  began  to  back 
away.  The  strange  shadow  reached  the  door  and  slipped 
into  the  crack;  the  Princess's  shadow  followed,  and  slipped 
into  the  crack  after  it.  They  were  gone,  and  only  the 
blank  surface  of  the  wall  remained. 

The  Princess  tried  to  move,  but  she  could  not  stir;  she 
tried  to  cry  out,  but  she  could  not  speak.  She  stood  there 
in  the  lamplight  before  her  mirror,  with  one  hand  upraised 
as  if  to  unfasten  her  necklace;  the  minutes  passed,  and  she 
did  not  move.  She  heard  the  splashing  of  the  tide  outside ; 
a  clock  struck  the  hour;  there  was  no  other  sound.  Hours 
passed,  and  still  she  stood  with  hand  raised  to  her  neck, 
before  the  mirror.  She  heard  the  clock  strike  twelve;  and 
on  the  twelfth  stroke  her  door  swung  slowly  open. 

A  Midnight  Visit  from  a  One-Armed  Old  Man 

In  the  doorway  stood  an  old  man ;  a  spare  old  man,  with 
long  white  hair  and  beard,  and  bright  blue  eyes  in  a  rosy 


The  shadow  of  a  Ragpicker  oozed  in  through  the  door 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    135 

face.  His  blue  gown,  spangled  with  silver  stars,  lacked  one 
sleeve,  the  right;  he  had  only  one  arm,  and  that  the  left. 
The  Princess  felt  somehow  that  she  was  glad  he  had  come. 

He  stepped  quickly  to  her  side  and  smiling  kindly  took 
down  her  hand  from  her  neck.  She  felt  a  pleasant  warmth 
at  his  touch,  and  she  sighed  with  relief.  He  kept  her 
hand  in  his,  and  drew  her  toward  the  door.  She  had  no 
wish  to  resist  him.  She  followed  quietly,  and  together  they 
passed  out  of  the  room  into  the  dark  hall.  .  .  . 

At  daybreak,  when  the  King  was  ready  to  depart,  there 
was  a  great  to-do.  The  Princess  was  nowhere  to  be  found. 
Her  lamp  was  still  burning,  and  her  bed  had  not  been  slept 
in.  The  King  was  beside  himself,  and  the  castle  was  in  a 
turmoil.  Searchers  were  sent  in  every  direction,  all  the  bells 
in  the  town  were  set  to  ringing,  and  cryers  went  about  the 
streets  proclaiming  a  reward. 

My  father  and  myself  hastened  to  the  castle,  and  I  knelt 
before  the  King  and  begged  his  special  leave  to  seek  the 
Princess  on  my  own  account.  I  knew  nothing,  save  that 
she  had  vanished  in  the  night,  but  I  resolved  that  I  would 
find  her,  and  I  did  not  doubt  of  my  success. 

"Go,"  said  the  King,  "and  good  fortune  attend  you.  If 
you  bring  her  back,  no  reward  will  I  refuse  you,  even  to  the 
hand  of  my  dear  child  herself.  Make  haste,  and  do  not  re- 
turn alone." 

Alb,  Seeking  the  Princess,  Sits  Down  by  the  Seashore 

All  that  morning  I  ran  about  the  town,  seeking  her  in 
every  quarter ;  but  nowhere  was  any  trace  of  her  to  be  found. 


136  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

I  came  back  in  the  afternoon  to  the  seashore  near  the  castle, 
there  to  ponder  what  I  had  best  do  next.  Trudging  along  a 
strip  of  sand  under  a  bluff  beside  the  sea,  I  came  to  a  large 
rock  which  rose  up  out  of  the  water  at  the  beach's  edge, 
and  climbing  up  on  it  I  seated  myself  on  a  narrow  shelf  and 
bared  my  head  to  the  breeze. 

I  had  sat  thus  only  a  moment  when  I  heard  a  voice  from 
the  other  side  of  the  rock,  a  melancholy  voice,  not  loud,  as 
of  a  young  man  singing  to  himself;  and  it  was  singing  a 
mournful  song,  pausing  now  and  then  to  speak  in  ordinary 
tones.  I  remember  the  words  very  well,  and  they  were 
these. 

"I  dream  in  my  deep-sea  cavern 

Of  many  a  bosky  copse, 
I  dream  of  a  cosy  tavern 

And  a  couple  of  mutton  chops, — 
For  even  the  storks  have  gruel, 

And  even  the  sheep  have  corn, 
But  me! — it  is  too,   too  cruel! 

Alas,  that  I  ever  was  born. 
( It's  too  cruel,  that's  what  it  is.     It  isn't 
right.     There's  no  justice  in  it,  and  I'm 
sick  of  it,  that's  what  I  am.) 
O  sorrow  too  deep  to  utter! 

O    midnight   hour    of   the   soul! 
If  there  only  were  bread  and  butter, 

Or  something  warm  in  a  bowl, — 
(I  don't  care  what.     I'm  so  sick  of  raw 
fish,  I  believe  I  could  even  stand  stewed 
rhubarb. ) 
O  sea,  so  ceaselessly  sloshing, 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    137 

O  emblem  of  peace  and  hope! — 
But  it's  utterly  useless   for  washing, 

And  O !  how  I  yearn  for  soap. 
I  seek,  in  my  cavern's  enclosure, 

To  talk  with  the  fishes,  but  they, 
Maintaining  the  strictest   composure, 

Have  simply  nothing  to  say. 
Proud  heart,  you  are  left  unheeded 

Alone  with  your  grief  and  your  ache, 
When  all  that  is  really  needed 

Is  just  a  mere  trifle  of  cake. 
(Not  fish  cake.     Not  that.     Chocolate 
cake,  three  layers,  with  walnuts  on  top 
and  in  between.) 
Sing  on,  proud  heart,  though  breaking 

With  every  harmonious  strain, 
And  physic  be  not  worth  the  taking 

For   your   description   of   pain, 
Sing  on,  though  it  be  not  forever, 

Forever   and   a   day, — 
(Not  that  there's  any  sense  in  adding 
on  a  day  to  forever.     It's  long  enough, 
in  all  conscience,  without  that.     How- 
ever— ) 
I  wish  I  could  sing  forever 

To  pass  the  dull  time  away; 
And  could  I  be  endlessly  clever 

And  make  me  an  endless  song, 
I  would  sing  of  my  sorrow  forever, 

I  would, — were  it  not  so  long." 

The  voice  gave  a  great  sigh,  and  the  singing  ceased. 
"I  used  to  make  up  little  rhymes  when  I  was  a  girl,"  said 
the  Queen,  "and  very  pretty  little  rhymes  they  were,  too,  or 


138  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

at  least  your  grandmother,  Dorobel,  used  to  say  so.  But 
dear  me;  I  never  could  remember  verses,  no  matter  how 
hard  I  tried;  never." 

"Yes,  yes,  grandmother,"  said  Bo  John.  "Go  on,  Solario." 

"Now  the  King  was  different;  he  could  remember  them, 
but  he  couldn't  make  them  up;  and  I  could  make  them  up, 
but  I  couldn't  remember  them!  Tee-hee-hee!  Dear,  dear! 
When  I  think  of  it!" 

"Grandmother"  said  Bojohn,  "Solario  is  waiting  to  go 
on." 

"So  he  is,"  said  the  Queen.  "I  never  liked  sad  stories 
when  I  was  a  girl,  for  they  always  made  me  cry.  But  this 
one  may  turn  out  better  than  I  expect.  I  really  think  you're 
doing  very  nicely,  Solario.  I  always  say,  that  no  matter  how 
poorly  one  makes  out,  he  ought  to  be  praised  if  he  is  doing 
his  best" 

"Go  on!"  cried  Bojohn;  and  Solario  proceeded. 

When  the  singing  ceased  (said  Alb)  I  climbed  noiselessly 
around  the  rock  to  the  other  side,  and  looked  down. 

An  Interview  with  a  Talking  Seal 

A  fat  seal  was  lying  below  me  on  a  ledge  of  the  rock, 
just  out  of  the  water.  The  creature  raised  his  head,  and 
gazed  up  at  me  with  his  big  soft  eyes. 

"I  could  have  sworn  the  voice  was  here,"  said  I,  half 
aloud. 

"Are  you  speaking  to  me?"  said  the  seal. 

I  assure  you  I  jumped  in  amazement.  "What!"  said  I. 
"Was  it  you?" 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    139 

"Well,"  said  the  seal,  "there's  nobody  else  here,  is  there?" 

"Of  all  things!"  said  I.  "A  talking  seal!  I  never 
heard  of  such  a — " 

"I  suppose  I  haven't  any  right  to  talk.  Just  because  I 
haven't  any  legs,  and  have  to  live  in  a  horrible  sealskin,  I 
suppose  I'm  not  even  to  utter  a  word.  Is  that  it?  Oh, 
yes,  I  dare  say;  I  suppose  so." 

"I'm  sorry.     I  didn't  mean  to  offend — " 

"I  suppose  not.  Anyway,  you'd  better  not  stand  there 
quarreling  with  me  all  day  if  you  ever  expect  to  find  the 
Princess." 

"Oh!  Do  you  know  anything  about  her?  Tell  me, 
quick!" 

"Yes,  I  do.  I  know  a  little  about  her.  I  know  where 
she  is.  The  Ragpicker's  shadow  came  last  night  and 
fetched  away  the  Princess's  shadow,  because  the  Ragpicker 
needed  the  Princess's  shadow  to  protect  her  against  the  peo- 
ple. Everybody  is  afraid  of  shadows, — I  suppose  you  know 
that.  And  then  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer  took  away  the 
Princess,  and  what  he's  going  to  do  with  her  I  don't  know. 
But  you'd  better  find  out.  Are  you  ready  to  go?" 

"Yes,  yes!  I'm  ready!  I'll  go  anywhere!  Tell  me 
where!" 

"You  talk  brave  enough.  The  question  is,  do  you  act  as 
brave  as  you  talk?  Do  you  mind  getting  half -drowned?" 

"No,  no!     I  mind  nothing!    Tell  me  what  I  must  do!" 

"Sounds  very  brave,  indeed.  Are  you  afraid  of 
shadows?" 

"Of  course  not!" 


1 40  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"Then  you're  the  only  person  in  these  parts  who  isn't. 
Where  you're  going,  they're  all  afraid  of  shadows,  and 
that's  how  the  Ragpicker  protects  herself  against  the  people; 
with  shadows.  And  so  you're  not  afraid  of  them.  Well, 
well!" 

"I'm  not  afraid  of  anything !    Tell  me  what  to  do  1" 

"So  I  Pretty  brave !  All  right,  I'll  take  you  there  myself. 
Take  off  your  coat  and  shoes." 

I  took  off  my  shoes,  stockings,  and  coat. 

The  seal  hunched  himself  down  into  the  water,  and  lay 
there  with  his  head  resting  on  the  rock. 

"Now,"  said  he,  "come  down  here  and  lie  on  my  back, 
and  hold  on  tight;  and  don't  get  in  the  way  of  my  flippers." 

I  hesitated  for  a  moment  at  the  idea  of  lying  down  in  the 
water  on  the  back  of  a  seal,  but  I  came  down  the  rock  and 
stretched  myself  out  on  his  back  and  clung  to  him  with  my 
arms  and  legs  as  well  as  I  could. 

A  Sea  Journey  on  the  Back  of  a  Seal 

"Hold  on  tight,"  said  the  seal,  and  darted  off  across  the 
sea  so  suddenly  that  I  lost  my  grip  and  fell  off  into  the  water ; 
but  he  swam  under  me,  and  I  was  soon  on  his  back  once 
more,  none  the  worse. 

"What's  the  matter?"  said  the  seal.  "Haven't  you  any 
strength?  I  suppose  I'll  have  to  go  slower." 

He  glided  slowly  and  smoothly  over  the  long  swells,  and 
as  soon  as  I  got  used  to  it  I  found  that  it  was  really  wonder- 
ful sport.  We  followed  the  shore  line  quite  around  the 
island  to  its  opposite  side,  and  then  the  seal  made  straight 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    141 

for  the  open  sea.  The  shore  faded  away  behind  us,  and 
at  last  it  was  gone. 

Hours  passed,  and  I  grew  stiff  and  cold.  I  slipped  off  the 
seal's  back  now  and  then,  for  the  exercise  of  swimming.  It 
was  excessively  difficult  to  hold  on  to  his  slippery  skin, 
and  I  ached  so  painfully  with  the  strain  that  I  feared  at  last 
that  I  should  have  to  let  go  for  good;  and  I  was  about 
to  give  up,  when  I  saw  afar  off  on  the  horizon  what  looked 
like  land.  The  seal  swam  faster.  I  took  new  courage, 
and  clung  to  him  tighter. 

It  was  indeed  land, — evidently  an  island;  and  as  we  came 
close  to  it  I  could  make  out  in  its  side  a  deep  cove,  backed 
with  dark,  woody  hills  and  flanked  on  either  side  by  rocky 
cliffs.  Fishing  boats  of  all  sizes  were  moored  in  the  cove, 
and  a  large  village  straggled  up  the  hillside  behind. 

The  seal  glided  into  the  smooth  wafer  between  the 
cliffs,  and  slid  up  against  the  sand  of  the  beach  at  the  foot 
of  the  village.  It  was  just  twilight. 

I  jumped  to  my  feet  and  stretched  my  numb  and  aching 
limbs,  gazing  with  curiosity  at  the  near-by  houses.  I  turned 
round  at  the  sound  of  the  seal's  voice. 

"Can  you  get  me  a  custard  pie?"  said  the  seal. 

"What?"  said  I,  in  astonishment. 

"There's  a  pastry  cook  in  the  village.  I'll  wait  for  you 
here.  Mince  pie'll  do,  if  they're  out  of  custard." 

I  hastened  away  into  the  village,  without  saying  anything 
more. 


i42  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

The  Village  of  Storks 

It  was  a  large  village,  and  there  were  a  good  many  streets ; 
and  before  I  found  the  pastry  cook's  shop  I  paused  to  look 
at  the  strange  collection  of  birds  which  adorned  the  house- 
tops. On  nearly  every  chimney  or  ridgepole  stood  a  stork, 
and  on  some  were  two  or  three,  and  even  more;  young 
storks  all  of  them,  judging  by  their  size. 

I  noticed,  as  I  passed  the  villagers  in  the  street,  that 
their  faces  were  very  sad;  and  I  thought  it  singular  that  al- 
though I  saw  many  grown  people,  I  met  no  children,  and 
heard  no  children's  voices. 

The  pastry  cook,  when  I  found  him,  proved  to  have 
the  saddest  face  of  all,  and  his  wife  looked  as  if  she  had 
been  weeping;  and  there  were  on  the  pastry  cook's  housetop 
no  less  than  five  small  storks.  When  I  mentioned  that  I 
wanted  a  custard  pie  for  a  seal,  the  pastry  cook  handed  over 
the  pie  to  me  without  any  appearance  of  surprise,  and  with- 
out accepting  any  payment. 

I  hurried  back  to  the  beach,  and  sat  down  before  the 
seal  and  held  the  custard  pie  while  the  hungry  creature  ate 
it. 

"Did  you  ever  eat  raw  fish?"  said  he. 

"I  should  say  not,"  said  I. 

"It's  awful,"  said  the  seal.  "It's  positively  petrifying. 
You  know  I  wasn't  always  a  seal.  Custard  pie  always  used 
to  do  me  more  good  than  anything  else." 

"Tell  me  who  you  are,"  said  I,  "and  who  the  Ragpicker 
is." 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   143 

"There's  no  time  now,"  said  the  seal.  "You'd  better  be 
going.  The  people  here  would  like  to  kill  the  Ragpicker 
if  they  could,  but  they're  afraid  of  the  shadows;  she's 
afraid  of  the  people,  and  the  people  are  afraid  of  the 
shadows;  and  she's  more  afraid  of  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer 
than  anybody  else,  though  between  you  and  me  I  think  she's 
wrong  about  it,  because  he  seems  to  be  a  pretty  decent  sort 
of  old  chap,  and  I  rather  believe  he'd  like  to  help  her  if  she 
wasn't  afraid  of  him;  but  of  course  you  can't  help  a  person 
who's  afraid  of  you.  All  mixed  up,  isn't  it?" 

"I  don't  understand  a  word  of  it,"  said  I. 

"Brave  people  are  always  stupid,"  said  the  seal,  and 
with  this  he  wriggled  himself  off  into  the  water,  and  I  saw 
his  head  going  back  and  forth  slowly  from  side  to  side 
across  the  cove. 

I  turned  and  went  into  the  village.  It  was  now  nearly 
dark. 

As  I  came  toward  the  pastry  cook's  shop  again,  the 
village  cryer  came  walking  down  the  street,  ringing  a  bell, 
and  calling  out,  over  and  over  again,  "Seven  o'clock,  and 
time  for  supper !  Seven  o'clock,  and  time  for  supper  1" 

As  the  cryer  passed  by,  the  storks  flapped  their  wings  and 
flew  down  from  the  housetops,  and  took  their  stand  in  a 
row  before  their  houses,  along  the  curbs;  and  wherever  a 
stork  stood  before  a  house  a  woman  came  out  with  a  bowl 
in  her  hand.  When  I  reached  the  pastry  cook's  shop,  the 
pastry  cook's  wife  was  kneeling  on  the  sidewalk  before  the 
five  little  storks,  feeding  them  gruel  out  of  a  bowl  with  a 
long  spoon.  I  observed  that  all  along  the  street  women 


i44  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

were  feeding  the  storks  in  the  same  way;  but  again  I  noticed 
that  there  were  no  children. 

I  walked  on,  watching  in  every  street  the  feeding  of  the 
storks,  and  looking  out  for  some  sign  of  the  Princess.  I 
observed  at  last  a  gilded  wooden  arm  and  hand  holding  a 
lantern,  projecting  from  the  front  wall  of  a  house  a  little  in 
advance;  and  before  this  house,  at  the  curb,  a  single  stork 
was  standing,  and  an  old  man,  one-armed,  wearing  white 
hair  and  beard  and  dressed  in  a  blue  gown  with  silver  stars, 
was  sitting  before  the  stork,  feeding  it  with  a  long  spoon 
from  a  bowl  in  his  lap.  Around  the  stork's  neck  hung  a 
pearl  necklace. 

Wondering  whether  I  had  ever  seen  that  necklace  before, 
I  passed  behind  the  old  man,  and  as  I  did  so  the  stork  fixed 
its  eye  on  me  and  ruffled  its  feathers  in  agitation.  I  had  no 
sooner  gone  by  than  there  was  a  great  fluttering  among  all 
the  storks,  and  I  observed,  coming  toward  me  down  the 
street,  a  bent  old  woman,  stooping  under  a  bulging  bag 
and  holding  out  what  appeared  to  be  a  poker  with  a  hook 
at  the  end.  She  was  ragged  and  decrepit,  and  there  was 
a  gleam  in  her  eye  which  seemed  to  me  to  be  more  of  terror 
than  anything. 

She  gazed  intently  at  the  stork  with  the  necklace,  and 
then  passed  on  down  the  street.  All  the  storks,  at  sight  of 
her,  suddenly  flew  up  on  to  the  housetops,  and  all  the  people, 
or  nearly  all,  went  hurriedly  indoors.  As  I  turned  to  follow 
her  with  my  eyes,  I  saw  that  the  stork  with  the  necklace  was 
perched  up  on  the  ridgepole,  and  that  the  old  one-armed 
man  was  gone. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    145 
The  Ragpicker  Frightens  the  Men  Away  with  Her  Bag 

The  Ragpicker  had  reached  the  next  corner,  and  was 
about  to  turn  into  the  street  at  her  right,  when  a  dozen  mea 
came  hurrying  toward  her  in  a  group,  and  she  stopped 'and 
faced  them.  They  were  burly  men,  and  they  were  plainly 
angry;  they  carried  cudgels,  and  one  of  them  carried  a  rope; 
they  meant  to  do  her  harm,  without  a  doubt.  They  ad- 
vanced on  her,  muttering  dangerously  together,  and  she 
stood  stock  still,  waiting.  One  of  the  men  gave  a  shout, 
and  they  rushed  upon  her  in  a  body;  but  quick  as  a  wink 
the  old  woman  whisked  her  bag  from  her  shoulder  to  the 
ground,  and  began  to  open  it;  and  at  this  the  men  fell  back 
against  each  other  as  if  afraid;  and  as  the  old  woman  made 
again  as  if  to  open  the  bag,  the  men  hesitated,  turned  about, 
and  actually  took  to  their  heels  and  fled. 

The  Ragpicker  slung  her  bag  upon  her  back  again,  turned 
the  corner,  and  disappeared. 

What  could  be  in  that  bag,  I  wondered,  to  make  those 
burly  men  afraid? 

I  hurried  to  the  corner,  and  saw  the  old  woman  plodding 
away  toward  the  end  of  the  street.  She  did  not  look 
around,  and  I  followed  her  cautiously.  She  passed  beyond 
the  village  houses  and  began  to  climb  a  path  which  wound 
up  the  hillside  among  the  rocks. 

Keeping  carefully  out  of  sight  behind  her,  I  saw  her  stop 
at  last  beside  a  hut  which  leaned  against  the  side  of  the  hill, 
and  go  in  at  its  door.  I  stole  up  quietly.  There  were  no 
windows  in  the  hut,  but  I  thought  I  might  be  able  to  see 


i46  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

inside  through  the  roof,  which  was  only  a  thatch  of  straw. 
I  could  easily  reach  it  from  the  side  of  the  hill.  In  a  moment 
I  was  lying  on  the  roof,  and  digging  away  the  straw  with  my 
fingers. 

I  worked  slowly  and  noiselessly,  and  after  a  time  made  a 
hole  through  which  I  could  look  down  into  the  hut.  It  was 
dark  below,  but  I  could  see  the  old  woman  stooping  down 
over  an  opening  in  the  floor,  from  which  she  was  just 
raising  a  trapdoor.  She  stepped  down  into  the  opening 
and  closed  the  door  over  her  head. 

I  lost  no  time  in  making  a  hole  in  the  thatch  big  enough 
to  admit  my  body;  and  when  I  had  done  so  I  dropped  to 
the  floor,  and  stood  beside  the  trapdoor.  I  raised  it  cau- 
tiously and  peered  down.  All  was  dark  below,  but  I  could 
make  out  a  flight  of  stone  steps.  I  went  down  without  a 
sound. 

He  Follows  the  Ragpicker  Down  Into  the  Dark 

At  the  bottom  I  got  down  on  my  hands  and  knees  and 
crawled  along,  touching  the  side  of  a  wall  at  my  right.  The 
wall  ended  abruptly,  and  feeling  the  ground  before  me  I 
found  that  I  was  on  the  edge  of  open  space,  and  I  could  hear 
the  rushing  of  water  far  below.  My  hand  touched  the  top  of 
a  ladder,  and  I  went  down  it  carefully;  but  after  a  moment 
my  foot  dangled  in  space,  and  I  nearly  fell  off;  the  ladder 
stopped  short,  and  I  clung  on  desperately.  I  then  climbed 
to  the  top  again  and  crawled  along  toward  my  left,  feeling 
the  edge  with  my  hand  until  I  shortly  touched  the  top  of 
another  ladder;  and  down  this  ladder,  fastened  securely 
against  the  wall,  I  went  more  cautiously  than  before. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   147 

The  ladder  was  long,  but  I  finally  found  myself  on  solid 
ground.  Following  the  wall  to  the  left,  I  passed  around  a 
corner,  and  as  I  did  so  I  saw  a  light. 

It  was  a  square  patch  of  light,  like  the  light  of  a  small 
window,  afar  off  in  the  darkness.  I  went  down  on  my  hands 
and  knees  again  and  crawled  toward  it.  The  ground  was 
unbroken  here,  and  I  could  now  scarcely  hear  the  sound  of 
water.  I  stopped  at  last  directly  beneath  the  light,  and 
touched  a  wall.  I  felt  with  my  left  hand  what  seemed  to  be 
a  closed  door,  and  I  got  up  slowly  on  my  feet.  I  was  look- 
ing into  a  lighted  room  through  a  small  square  window, 
without  glass,  and  crossed  with  iron  bars. 

A  lamp  was  burning  brightly  in  a  bracket  on  a  wall  of  the 
room.  On  the  earthen  floor,  near  the  center,  the  old  Rag- 
picker was  kneeling  before  a  brazier  containing  a  brisk  fire, 
over  which  hung  an  iron  pot.  Her  bag  lay  on  the  floor  be- 
side her,  flat  and  limp;  it  was  evidently  empty. 

She  Stirs  a  Steaming  Mixture  with  Her  Long  Hooked 

Forefinger 

As  I  watched  her,  she  arose  from  her  knees  and  went  to  a 
door  at  the  rear,  and  made  sure  that  it  was  closed  tight.  She 
then  went  to  a  great  heap  of  rubbish  which  was  piled  in  one 
corner,  and  scratching  with  her  poker  amongst  the  rags, 
bones,  and  old  iron  there,  picked  out  carefully  a  handful  of 
bones,  examining  each  one  minutely.  She  then  took  from  a 
shelf  a  large  bottle  of  some  dark  liquid,  and  with  this  and 
the  bones  she  returned  to  the  fire.  She  poured  the  liquid 
into  the  iron  pot  and  dropped  in  the  bones,  one  by  one;  and 


i48  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

as  she  did  so  I  observed  a  thing  which  I  had  not  discerned 
before,  that  what  I  had  thought  was  a  poker  held  in  her 
hand  was  in  fact  a  long,  black,  stiff  forefinger,  hooked  at  the 
end.  There  was  no  doubt  about  it;  it  was  the  first  finger  of 
her  right  hand,  as  stiff  as  an  iron  rod,  and  about  a  foot  and 
a  half  long.  She  stuck  it  into  the  steaming  pot  and  stirred 
the  mixture  with  it,  muttering  to  herself  words  which  I  could 
not  understand. 

Presently  she  stopped  stirring,  and  sniffing  the  contents 
of  the  pot  nodded  her  head  as  if  satisfied.  She  picked  up 
from  the  ground  an  iron  ladle  and  a  pewter  bowl,  and 
ladling  the  steaming  liquid  from  the  pot  into  the  bowl,  drank 
it  down,  every  drop. 

She  put  down  the  ladle  and  the  bowl,  and  stood  motion- 
less, as  if  waiting.  A  change  began  to  come  over  her. 
Her  back  straightened;  she  grew  taller;  the  wrinkles  left 
her  face;  her  skin  became  fairer,  her  eyes  larger,  her  hair 
longer;  and  there  before  my  eyes  stood  a  young  and  beau- 
tiful damsel,  tall  and  erect,  with  dark  eyes  in  a  pale  face, 
and  two  thick  braids  of  brown  hair  hanging  to  her 
waist. 

She  held  up  her  right  hand  and  looked  at  it.  The  long 
black  stiff  finger  with  the  hook  was  still  there.  She  screamed, 
and  burying  her  face  on  her  left  arm  shook  with  sobs.  In  a 
moment  she  raised  her  head  and  put  away  her  hideous  right 
hand  behind  her  where  she  could  not  see  it.  Her  left  hand 
she  placed  over  her  eyes,  with  a  gesture  of  despair,  and 
as  she  remained  standing  in  that  attitude  the  hand  over  her 
eyes  grew  old  and  withered ;  she  began  to  shrink  and  stoop, 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    149 

and  she  moaned  to  herself.  It  was  plain  that  the  effect  of 
what  she  had  drunk  was  beginning  to  wear  off.  She  shud- 
dered, and  gave  a  mournful  cry;  and  in  another  instant  she 
was  the  old,  bent  Ragpicker  again. 

I  drew  a  long  breath.  I  stood  back,  for  fear  that  I  might 
be  seen,  and  when  I  looked  again  the  old  woman  was  stand- 
ing with  her  back  toward  me,  facing  the  closed  door  at  the 
rear.  I  noticed  now,  what  I  had  not  noticed  before,  that  she 
cast  no  shadow  in  the  lamplight  on  the  floor. 

"SkagI"  she  cried.    "Come  hither!" 

A  shadow  oozed  into  the  room  through  the  crack  of  the 
door,  and  moved  upright  across  the  floor  toward  the  Rag- 
picker. It  was  the  shadow  of  a  bent  old  woman,  stooping 
under  a  bulky  bag,  and  holding  out  what  appeared  to  be  a 
poker,  hooked  at  the  end;  the  shadow  of  the  old  Ragpicker 
herself.  It  stood  still,  not  far  from  the  door. 

"It's  no  use,  Skag,"  said  the  old  woman  to  her  shadow. 
"I  haven't  found  the  right  bone;  but  I  will  find  it,  yet  I  I'll 
find  it  yet!  Bring  in  the  Princess's  shadow." 

Her  own  shadow  disappeared  through  the  crack  in  the 
door,  and  returned  immediately,  followed  by  another.  I 
started,  and  almost  cried  out.  It  was  the  shadow  of  a  young 
girl,  undoubtedly  the  Princess,  and  it  stood  upright  on  the 
floor  beside  the  other. 

"Ah !"  said  the  old  woman.  "Now  my  shadows  are  com- 
plete. This  one  is  the  best  and  most  fearsome  of  all.  Ah, 
how  they  fear  the  shadows !  Lucky  for  me,  lucky  for  me ! 
They're  not  afraid  of  me,  but  they're  afraid  of  shadows! 
This  day  they  would  have  killed  me,  but  for  my  bag  of 


150  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

shadows.  We  mustn't  lose  them,  Skag,  we  mustn't  lose 
them." 

She  paced  about,  growing  more  and  more  excited,  and 
went  on  talking  as  she  walked. 

"We're  in  danger,  Skag,  we're  in  danger.  The  One- 
Armed  Sorcerer  is  working  against  us.  He  has  brought  the 
Princess  herself  here,  to  help  him  against  me.  What  can  he 
mean  to  do?  He  means  to  take  away  my  shadows  from  me, 
Skag,  it  must  be  that.  And  he  has  brought  the  Princess  to 
help  him.  And  what  then?  Death,  Skag,  death;  a  quick 
death,  for  what  will  the  people  be  afraid  of  then?  We  must 
stop  it,  Skag,  we  must  stop  the  sorcerer,  and  there  is  only 
one  way.  The  Princess  must  be  destroyed!  To-morrow 
morning,  when  the  sun  shines  and  the  shadows  can  be  seen, 
I  will  seek  her  out  and  destroy  her;  and  the  shadows  shall 
go  with  me  and  protect  me.  Bring  in  the  shadows,  Skag." 

The  Shadows  of  the  Children 

The  old  woman's  shadow  disappeared  through  the  crack 
again,  and  immediately  returned;  and  behind  it  came  a 
shadow,  and  another,  and  another;  many  shadows,  all  of 
children,  and  they  moved  upright  across  the  floor  and  stood 
before  the  Ragpicker.  They  were  flat  as  paper  and  black 
as  ink;  and  the  lamplight  did  not  shine  through  them.  They 
kept  on  coming,  and  the  room  was  soon  full  of  them;  hun- 
dreds, as  it  seemed,  hundreds  of  shadows  of  little  children, 
some  so  small  that  they  were  just  beginning  to  walk.  And 
the  shadow  of  the  Princess  was  the  tallest  of  all. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   151 

The  Ragpicker  pointed  at  the  Princess's  shadow  with  her 
long,  black  rod  of  a  finger,  and  said,  "Into  the  bag!" 

She  stooped  to  her  bag  and  held  it  open  at  the  floor,  and 
the  shadow  of  the  Princess  moved  to  it,  crouched,  and  went 
in. 

"In,  all  of  you!"  cried  the  old  woman. 

All  the  shadows  crowded  around  the  mouth  of  the  bag, 
and  one  after  another  stooped  and  went  in.  There  was  none 
left  but  the  shadow  of  the  old  woman  herself.  She  closed  the 
bag,  now  bulging,  and  flinging  it  over  her  shoulder  she  said 
to  her  own  shadow,  "Hither,  Skag,  and  lie  down!" 

Her  shadow  moved  close  to  her,  and  spread  itself  out  on 
the  ground  with  its  feet  to  hers,  growing  longer  as  it  did  so, 
so  that  it  became  no  more  than  an  ordinary  shadow  cast  by 
the  lamplight  on  the  floor. 

The  old  woman  went  to  the  lamp  and  blew  out  the  light, 
and  the  room  was  in  darkness,  except  for  the  glimmer  of  the 
dying  fire. 

I  flattened  myself  on  the  ground  as  the  door  opened  and 
the  old  woman  came  forth  with  her  bag  on  her  back.  I  could 
scarcely  see  her,  and  in  an  instant  she  had  disappeared  in  the 
darkness. 

He  Loses  His  Way  in  the  Dark 

I  waited  a  moment  or  two,  and  then  crawled  cautiously  in 
the  direction  I  thought  she  had  taken;  but  there  was  nothing 
but  the  blackness  of  deep  night  all  round  me,  and  I  could  not 
be  sure  of  my  direction.  I  looked  behind  me,  and  I  could 
not  see  any  longer  the  window  I  had  just  left.  I  had  come 


152  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

from  the  ladder  easily  enough,  but  it  was  plainly  a  different 
matter  to  get  back.  I  crawled  on  uncertainly,  and  stopped 
now  and  then;  I  had  gone  by  this  time  farther  than  I  had 
come  at  first,  but  I  found  no  wall.  I  must  have  lost  my  way. 
I  went  on,  and  found  myself  going  down  a  slope.  I  knew 
that  this  could  not  be  right,  and  I  changed  my  course  a  little ; 
but  I  was  still  going  down  the  slope,  and  I  was  afraid  that  I 
would  be  utterly  lost  if  I  turned  back. 

The  sound  of  rushing  water  came  to  my  ears  now.  The 
slope  grew  steeper,  and  I  crawled  more  cautiously.  The 
sound  of  water  became  more  distinct.  The  ground  was  sud- 
denly slimy,  and  before  I  knew  it  I  was  slipping  down  a  steep 
descent,  unable  to  stop  myself.  I  slid  and  slid,  faster  and 
faster,  clutching  the  slimy  ground  and  rolling  over  and  over; 
and  as  I  was  fainting  with  dizziness  I  shot  off  into  space, 
and  came  down  with  a  splash  into  a  torrent  of  deep  water. 

The  stream  hurled  me  away.  I  struggled  against  it,  but 
it  was  too  swift.  It  was  impossible  to  swim.  I  could  do  no 
more  than  keep  my  head  above  water,  and  let  the  current 
fling  me  along  into  the  darkness.  Tossed  like  a  leaf,  hurled 
against  the  walls  of  the  stream,  scratched  by  the  edges  of 
rocks,  bruised,  bleeding,  and  half-drowned,  I  almost  lost 
consciousness,  and  scarcely  knew  anything  more  until  I  felt 
myself  lying  on  soft  sand  in  shallow  water.  I  looked  up,  and 
saw  above  me  a  clear  sky;  the  open  sea  was  rolling  toward 
me  on  a  beach,  and  the  moon  was  glittering  on  the  waves. 

I  tottered  to  my  feet.  I  was  so  weak  and  sore  that  I  could 
hardly  stand.  When  I  was  able  to  move,  I  walked  forward 
toward  the  ocean.  The  stream  which  had  brought  me 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   153 

spread  out  and  lost  itself  in  the  sand.  At  my  feet  the  break- 
ers came  rushing  up,  and  a  strip  of  beach  lay  at  my  right 
hand  and  my  left,  enclosed  at  the  back  and  sides  by  a  high 
cliff.  There  was  no  way  out  except  by  climbing  the  cliff.  I 
shouted,  hoping  that  the  seal  might  be  out  there  in  the  water, 
but  there  was  no  response.  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would 
have  to  climb  the  cliff. 

It  was  a  cruel  task,  for  the  cliff  was  steep,  and  there  was 
scarcely  any  foothold  but  an  occasional  rock  and  bush ;  but  I 
never  once  thought  of  discouragement,  and  I  stuck  to  it 
with  all  my  might.  My  bare  feet  and  my  hands  were  torn 
by  the  rocks,  but  I  kept  on,  up  and  up,  and  in  time  I  stood 
on  the  top.  I  hastened  away  along  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  and 
came  after  a  long  walk  to  a  place  where  the  cliff  turned  back 
shoreward;  and  there  I  looked  down,  and  saw  the  roofs  of 
the  village  straggling  up  its  hillside  behind  the  cove. 

He  Hears  the  Voice  of  the  Seal  Again 

I  lay  down  and  put  my  head  out  over  the  edge  of  the  cliff, 
and  at  that  moment  there  came  to  me  from  the  still  water 
of  the  cove  a  faint,  sad  voice,  singing: 

"O  wonderful  pancake  batter! 

0  table  and  fork  and  plate! 

I  wonder  whatever's  the  matter, 
That  he  keeps  me  waiting  so  late? 

He  said  he  was  willing  to  serve  us 
Regardless  of   danger  or  pelf, 

But  I'm  getting  so  dreadfully  nervous 

1  really  am  scarcely  myself. 


I54  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

O  why  does  he  loiter  and  linger 

While  I  wait  so  sorry  and  sick? 
Let  him  sever  the  Ragpicker's  ringer 

And  do  it  almightily  quick. 
For  then  I  shall,  sit  at  a  table, 

My  napkin  over  my  knees, 
And   tipple   as  long  as   I'm   able, 

And  gobble  as  long  as  I  please, 
With  plenty  of  good  hot  curry, 

And  plenty  of  custard  pie, — 
If  he  only  would  hurry,  hurry! 

O  why  does  he  linger,  why?" 

The  voice  stopped,  and  I  rose  to  my  feet  and  made  off 
across  the  moonlit  fields. 

"There  used  to  be  a  baker  at  the  castle"  said  the  Queen, 
"shortly  after  I  was  married,  who  made  up  a  great  many 
very  pretty  songs.  The  King  used  to  say  that  he  sang  better 
than  he  baked.  For  my  part,  I  was  very  sorry  to  lose  him. 
His  niece  was  going  to  be  married  in  one  of  our  villages,  I 
forget  which, — no,  I  believe  it  was  a  cousin;  I  am  almost 
sure  it  was  his  cousin,  and  I  think  it  was  the  niece  who  was 
looking  after  his  mother  while  he  was  here,  and  she  had  to 
go  and  keep  house  for  the  cousin  after  she  was  married,  and 
that  left  his  mother  all  alone;  so  that  he  had  to  go  back  to 
his  mother,  and  I  always  thought  he  was  such  a  good  son  to 
give  up  his  place  here  at  the  castle  in  order  to  take  care  of 
his  poor  old  mother,  and  I'm  sure  very  few  would  have  done 
it  in  his  place;  but  I  must  say  that  the  next  baker  was  very 
much  better  at  gingerbread,  though  he  never  made  up  any 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    155 

songs,  and  I  think  the  King  himself  missed  the  first  one  a 
good  deal  afterward,  though  he  never  would  say  so." 

"Go  on!"  cried  Bojohn;  and  Solario  proceeded. 

I  rose  to  my  feet  (said  Alb)  and  made  off  across  the 
fields.  I  found  a  path  which  wound  down  to  the  village,  and 
I  was  presently  standing  in  the  street.  All  the  storks  were 
gone,  probably  within  doors  for  the  night. 

I  set  forth  briskly  to  find  the  house  of  the  One-Armed 
Sorcerer.  I  realized  that  the  stork  with  the  necklace  was  the 
Princess  herself,  and  I  knew  that  if  she  was  to  be  saved  from 
the  Ragpicker  I  must  act  quickly. 

I  remembered  the  gilded  wooden  arm  and  hand,  holding 
a  lantern,  which  stood  out  from  the  one-armed  man's  house, 
and  it  was  only  a  matter  of  time  to  find  it.  I  found  it  sooner 
than  I  expected.  A  light  was  burning  dimly  in  the  lantern, 
but  the  house  was  dark.  There  was  no  stork  upon  the  house- 
top. I  tried  the  handle  of  the  door  quietly,  and  to  my  sur- 
prise the  door  gave  before  me,  and  I  pushed  it  open. 

He  Peeps  into  the  Sorcerer's  Workshop 

I  found  myself  in  a  dark  room,  which  I  crossed  quickly  to 
a  door  at  the  other  side.  This  door  I  opened  on  a  crack,  and 
through  the  crack  I  looked  into  a  lighted  room;  a  small 
room,  evidently  a  workshop,  cluttered  about  with  glass  ves- 
sels of  strange  shapes,  metal  machines  of  various  sorts, 
wooden  hoops  curiously  interlaced,  charts  of  the  skies,  and 
great,  brass-bound  books;  and  at  one  side  of  the  room  was  a 
forge  and  in  the  center  a  table. 

Before  this  table  was  standing  the  one-armed  man  whom 


156  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

I  had  already  seen.  On  the  table,  the  stork  with  the  neck- 
lace was  lying  on  its  side,  perfectly  still,  and  as  I  looked  the 
old  man  plucked  a  feather  from  the  stork's  wing  and  ex- 
amined it  carefully.  He  then  cast  it  aside  and  plucked 
another,  this  time  from  the  back.  This  also  he  tossed  away, 
after  examining  it,  and  he  then  plucked  a  feather  from  the 
shoulder,  and  holding  it  up  to  the  light  gave  a  cry  of  pleas- 
ure, and  without  turning  said,  "Come  in,  Alb,  I  have  been 
expecting  you." 

I  stepped  into  the  room,  and  the  old  man  greeted  me  with 
a  friendly  smile,  and  held  up  the  feather. 

"Do  you  see  this?"  said  he. 

I  looked  at  it  closely.  At  the  point  of  the  quill  hung  a 
single  drop  of  blood. 

The  stork  on  the  table  stirred  uneasily.  The  sorcerer 
stroked  it  gently  and  said,  "Sleep !"  and  the  stork  lay  per- 
fectly still  again. 

"Wait  a  minute,"  said  the  old  man.  "We  must  keep  this 
drop  from  falling  off,  and  we  must  harden  the  point  of  the 
quill." 

He  produced  from  a  closet  a  metal  box,  and  out  of  this 
he  took  a  small  glass  tube,  covered  with  frost.  He  held  the 
drop  of  blood  for  a  moment  inside  the  tube,  and  then  put 
the  tube  away  in  its  box. 

"Now,"  said  he,  "the  drop  will  not  fall  off." 

He  went  to  the  forge,  and  blowing  up  the  coals  with  a 
pair  of  bellows,  he  held  the  point  of  the  quill  for  a  moment 
in  the  fire. 

"Now,"  said  he,  "it  is  as  hard  as  a  pin." 


The  (Jut-Armed  Sorcerer  plucked  a  feather  from  the  stork 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   157 

"Sir,"  said  I,  "will  you  tell  me  what  this  is  for?" 

"To  save  the  Ragpicker  from  herself,"  said  the  sorcerer. 

"But  it's  the  Princess  I  have  come  to  save,"  said  I. 

"It  is  the  same  thing,"  said  the  old  man.  "If  the  Rag- 
picker is  saved  from  herself,  everybody  else  is  saved  too. 
And  this  drop  of  blood  from  the  Princess's  heart  will  do  it, 
and  nothing  else." 

"I  have  seen  the  Ragpicker  to-night,  sir,"  said  I,  "and  I 
will  tell  you  about  it." 

"Sit  down,  my  son,"  said  the  old  man,  and  when  we  were 
seated  I  told  him  all  that  I  had  seen  and  heard  in  the  Rag- 
picker's cavern. 

The  sorcerer  shook  his  head  and  smiled.  "And  so  she 
thinks  I  wish  to  take  away  her  shadows  and  let  the  people 
kill  her!  Well,  well,  it's  the  way  of  wickedness  to  see  noth- 
ing but  evil.  Why  should  I  wish  her  harm?  What  I  seek 
to  do  is  to  save  her,  not  to  destroy  her;  but  she'll  never  be- 
lieve that,  because  she  can't  think  straight.  Anyway,  in  try- 
ing to  do  evil  she  has  provided  me  with  the  means  of  making 
her  good." 

"How  has  she  done  that?"  said  I. 

"If  she  hadn't  stolen  the  Princess's  shadow,  I  shouldn't 
have  brought  the  Princess  here;  and  if  I  hadn't  brought  the 
Princess  here,  she  wouldn't  now  be  a  stork;  and  if  she  hadn't 
been  turned  to  a  stork  I  couldn't  have  gotten  the  drop  of 
blood  from  her  heart." 

"Is  it  true,"  said  I,  "that  the  Ragpicker  protects  herself 
with  shadows?" 

"Of  course!    What  could  protect  her  better?   What  else 


158  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

is  there  to  fear,  but  shadows?  I  confess  I'm  more  than  half 
afraid  of  them  myself.  We  all  know  we  shouldn't  be,  but 
we  are,  just  the  same.  They're  perfectly  harmless,  but 
they're  terrible.  There's  nothing  so  real  as  shadows." 

"But  tell  me,"  said  I,  "how  we  are  to  save  the  Princess." 

"All  in  good  time,"  said  the  sorcerer;  "in  the  meantime, 
you  must  get  a  little  rest,  for  you  have  an  important  task  to 
do  in  the  morning." 

I  was  tired  out,  in  fact.  The  sorcerer  left  me,  and  I  sat 
beside  the  sleeping  stork,  watching  it  in  silence  for  a  long 
while,  and  then  I  surrendered  myself  to  drowsiness,  and  fell 
asleep. 

When  I  awoke,  it  was  morning.  The  stork  was  gone,  and 
the  sorcerer's  hand  was  on  my  shoulder. 

"Come,"  said  he,  and  placed  in  my  hand  a  tiny  bow  of 
thin  metal,  with  a  string  of  fine  hair,  and  showed  me  how  to 
use  the  stork's  feather  as  an  arrow  to  the  bow.  He  then  in- 
structed me  in  what  I  had  to  do,  and  led  me  out  into  the 
street. 

The  stork  which  had  been  a  Princess  was  standing  on  the 
curb  before  the  door,  and  all  the  other  storks  were  in  their 
places  on  the  housetops.  The  street  was  already  busy;  shops 
and  houses  were  being  opened  for  the  day  and  many  people 
were  outdoors. 

He  Lies  in  Wait  with  a  Bow  and  Arrow 

Carrying  the  stork's  feather  and  the  bow,  I  went  to  the 
next  corner,  round  which  on  the  evening  before  I  had  seen 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   159 

the  Ragpicker  turn  up  toward  her  home.     I  passed  this 
corner,  and  concealed  myself  in  a  doorway  just  beyond. 

I  had  not  long  to  wait.  I  had  drawn  my  head  back  into 
the  doorway  for  a  moment,  and  when  I  looked  again  the 
Ragpicker  was  standing  at  the  street  crossing  with  her  back 
toward  me,  gazing  in  the  direction  of  the  stork  which  stood 
before  the  sorcerer's  door.  On  her  back  was  her  bag,  and 
in  her  left  hand  she  carried  a  knife.  The  people  in  the  street 
stopped  to  watch  her,  muttering  together. 

"Skag!"  said  she,  "come  in!"  And  she  turned  sidewise  to 
her  shadow,  which  lay  at  a  great  length  on  the  ground  be- 
fore her.  It  began  to  shorten  toward  her,  and  kept  shorten- 
ing until  it  was  no  longer  than  herself.  "Stand  up!"  said 
she,  and  the  shadow  stood  upright  beside  her,  a  black,  flat 
image  of  herself  in  outline,  looking  as  if  it  had  been  cut  from 
stiff,  black  paper. 

The  Ragpicker  let  down  the  bag  from  her  shoulder  and 
opened  it  on  the  ground  and  said  "Come  out  I"  And  at  this 
all  the  people  gave  a  cry  of  terror  and  fled  into  their  houses 
and  shut  the  doors,  and  all  the  storks  on  the  housetops  flut- 
tered their  feathers  and  flapped  their  wings. 

The  Ragpicker  Releases  the  Shadows  in  the  Street 

Out  of  the  bag  poured  shadows;  hundreds  of  them;  all 
the  shadows  of  little  children  which  I  had  seen  go  into  the 
bag  the  night  before;  and  as  they  poured  out,  they  ran 
about  in  the  street  as  if  bewildered. 

"Skag!"  said  the  Ragpicker.   "To  the  fore!" 


160  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

The  old  woman's  shadow  hastened  to  the  front  of  all  the 
others  and  raised  its  long  poker  finger,  beckoning  them  to 
follow.  They  crowded  behind,  and  moved  noiselessly  up  the 
street  toward  the  stork  at  the  sorcerer's  door.  The  Rag- 
picker followed  close  behind,  holding  her  knife  up  in  her  left 
hand.  The  stork  which  was  the  Princess  stood  motionless 
on  the  curb  before  the  door.  The  sorcerer  was  not  to  be 
seen. 

Now  was  my  time  for  action.  I  crept  silently  after  the 
old  woman,  and  came  up  just  behind  her.  I  fitted  the  feather 
with  its  drop  of  blood  to  the  little  bow,  and  as  I  approached 
the  old  woman  so  close  that  I  might  have  touched  her,  I 
aimed  quickly  at  her  back  and  let  the  arrow  fly.  Straight 
into  her  back  it  darted,  and  stuck  there  fast. 

"Skag!"  she  screamed,  but  she  said  no  more. 

Quick  as  a  wink  I  plucked  the  feather  from  her  back,  and 
as  I  did  so  she  turned  upon  me  with  her  knife  uplifted.  But 
she  stood  suddenly  still,  her  hand  relaxed,  and  the  knife  fell 
to  the  ground.  A  change  came  slowly  over  her.  Her  back 
straightened;  she  grew  taller;  the  wrinkles  left  her  face;  her 
skin  became  fairer,  her  eyes  larger,  her  hair  longer;  and 
there  was  standing  before  me  in  her  place  a  beautiful  young 
damsel,  tall  and  erect,  with  dark  eyes  in  a  pale  face,  and  two 
thick  braids  of  brown  hair  hanging  to  her  waist. 

She  held  up  her  right  hand  and  looked  at  it,  and  gave  a 
cry  of  joy.  The  long,  black,  hooked  finger  was  gone.  Her 
two  hands  were  the  shapely  white  hands  of  a  young  woman, 
without  blemish. 

"Free!"  she  cried.   "The  enchantment  is  over!   I  am  my- 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   161 

self  at  last!    Oh,  thanks,  young  man!"    And  she  threw  her 
arms  around  me  and  kissed  me  soundly  on  the  cheek. 

I  released  myself,  awkwardly  enough,  and  as  I  did  so  I 
saw  all  the  shadows  up  the  street  fall  flat  to  the  ground,  as 
if  they  had  been  knocked  over  by  a  ball;  and  they  began  to 
slip  swiftly  away  in  every  direction  across  the  pavement.  In 
an  instant  Skag,  the  old  Ragpicker's  shadow,  lay  at  the 
young  woman's  feet.  She  screamed  and  shrank  away,  but 
in  another  instant  the  shadow's  shape  was  changed,  and  in 
its  place  on  the  ground  was  the  shadow  of  the  young  woman 
herself.  She  clapped  her  hands  with  joy. 

A  Singular  Commotion  on  the  Housetops 

The  shadows  of  the  children  were  climbing  the  walls  of 
the  houses;  and  all  of  a  sudden  I  heard  a  great  clamor  from 
the  housetops,  as  of  hundreds  of  children  crying  out  to- 
gether. 

"We  can't  get  down!  Oh,  I'm  falling!  Help!  I  can't 
hold  on!  Oh,  Mother!  We  can't  get  down  !  I'm  slipping! 
I'm  going  to  fall !  Hurry!  Mother!  Come  quick!" 

I  looked  up,  and  there  on  the  housetops,  where  the  storks 
had  been,  children  were  clinging  to  the  chimney  pots,  strad- 
dling the  ridgepoles,  hanging  on  to  the  gables,  big  children 
and  little  children,  boys  and  girls,  shrieking  out  at  the  top 
of  their  voices,  and  struggling  to  keep  from  toppling  off  into 
the  street.  One  tiny  boy  suddenly  disappeared  down  a  chim- 
ney; a  big  girl  lost  her  hold  and  rolled  down  the  roof  into  a 
wide  leaden  gutter,  where  she  hung,  half  on  and  half  off. 
Dozens  of  boys  and  girls  sat  astride  the  ridgepoles,  as  if 


1 62  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

riding  cockhorses.  The  big  boys  began  to  shout  with  glee, 
but  the  little  ones  were  crying  with  fright;  and  at  the  hubbub 
all  the  doors  flew  open  and  all  the  fathers  and  mothers  ran 
out,  and  when  they  saw  what  it  was,  a  mighty  shout  went  up, 
and  it  wasn't  a  minute  before  a  ladder  stood  against  every 
wall,  and  not  more  than  two  minutes  before  all  the  children 
were  safe  on  the  ground,  hugged  up  in  their  mothers'  and 
fathers'  arms,  with  such  laughing  and  weeping  and  cheering 
as  never  were,  I  am  sure,  in  this  world  before. 

"Oh,  isn't  it  wonderful !"  cried  the  beautiful  young 
woman.  "I'm  so  glad,  so  glad !" 

"The  Princess !"  I  cried.   "Look  at  the  Princess  1" 

The  Princess  Is  Herself  Again,  but — 

She  was  her  own  lovely  self  again,  and  she  was  standing 
at  the  same  place  on  the  curb  before  the  sorcerer's  house, 
and  the  sorcerer  himself  was  standing  beside  her.  The 
young  woman  and  myself  ran  swiftly  to  her,  and  I  shouted 
a  joyous  greeting  as  I  approached;  but  to  my  surprise,  she 
did  not  reply. 

She  was  standing  perfectly  motionless,  with  her  eyes  wide 
open,  and  one  hand  raised  to  her  neck  as  if  about  to  un- 
fasten her  necklace.  On  her  shoulder,  shown  by  the  open 
neck  of  her  dress,  was  a  tiny  spot  of  blood. 

The  young  woman  kissed  the  sorcerer's  hand  and  thanked 
him. 

"But  the  Princess!"  I  cried.  "What  is  the  matter  with 
the  Princess?" 


The  sorcerer  shook  his  head  sadly.  "Somebody  always 
has  to  pay  for  these  benefits,"  said  he,  "and  I'm  afraid  that 
when  we  plucked  the  feather  we  took  away  something  we 
cannot  replace.  She  cannot  move  nor  speak.  But  I  will  set 
to  work,  and  in  time  I  will — " 

"Come!"  said  the  young  woman.  "I  will  help  her!  We 
must  take  her  home  !  Come  at  once  1" 

The  sorcerer  and  myself  lifted  the  Princess  between  us 
and  carried  her  down  the  street  toward  the  cove.  The  vil- 
lage people  and  their  children  followed  us,  and  stood  in  a 
throng  on  the  beach  as  we  got  into  a  boat  and  hoisted  a  sail. 

"Good-bye!"  shouted  the  people,  and  the  sorcerer  and 
myself  waved  our  hands,  none  too  cheerfully;  and  at  that 
moment  we  heard  a  kind  of  bark  from  the  water  beside  the 
boat,  and  a  voice  cried,  "Sister!"  It  was  the  seal.  The 
young  woman  leaned  down  toward  him  and  cried, 
"Brother!" 

"Is  everything  all  right  now?"  said  the  seal.  "What  are 
you  going  to  do  about  me?" 

His  sister  raised  the  Princess  and  showed  him  the  red 
mark  on  the  Princess's  shoulder,  and  told  him  about  the 
plucking  of  the  stork's  feather.  Then  the  seal's  sister  said: 

"For  once  you  have  done  a  good  deed,  brother;  and  if 
you'll  do  another — you  know  the  promise ! — two  good 
deeds ! — you  will  be  free  too.  Go !  and  do  not  return  until 
you  have  brought  that  which  will  cure  the  Princess.  The 
milk  of  the  White  Walrus  who  lives  in  the  Far-Alone 
Grotto  on  the  Twelfth  Ice  Floe!  Do  you  understand?" 

"It's  a  pretty  good  trip,"  said  the  seal,  "and  I'll  probably 


z  64  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

have  to  fight  the  walruses.  But  if  you  say  so,  why  I  sup- 
pose—  When  do  you  think  I'd  better  start?" 

"This  instant!"  cried  his  sister.  "Off  with  you!  And 
return  to  us  at  the  King's  castle  at  Ventamere." 

"Oh,  very  well,"  said  the  seal,  and  dived.  He  came  up 
again  at  the  mouth  of  the  cove,  making  off  at  a  great  rate  for 
the  open  sea.  .  .  . 

We  reached  the  King's  castle  at  Ventamere  in  the  evening, 
and  pressed  straightway  into  the  Grand  Refectory,  where 
the  King  was  at  supper  with  his  court.  As  we  entered,  the 
whole  company  sprang  up,  and  my  father  ran  toward  me. 

The  King  Beholds  His  Child  and  Is  Grieved 

The  sorcerer  and  myself,  carrying  the  Princess,  stood  her 
on  her  feet  and  supported  her  thus  between  us,  and  the  seal's 
sister  stood  beside  us. 

"My  daughter!"  cried  the  King,  and  rushing  toward  the 
Princess  with  outstretched  arms,  stopped  in  amazement  as 
she  remained  between  us  as  speechless  and  motionless  as  a 
statue. 

I  whispered  rapidly  into  my  father's  ear,  and  the  sorcerer, 
kneeling  before  the  King,  began  to  explain. 

The  King  paid  no  attention  to  him,  but  placed  a  hand 
upon  his  daughter's  arm  and  wept. 

"My  poor  child!"  he  said.    "What  shall  we  do  now?" 

There  was  a  movement  at  the  door.  A  crowd  of  the  cas- 
tle people  poured  into  the  room,  and  parting,  opened  a  lane 
for  a  young  man,  a  stranger,  who  advanced  rapidly  from  the 
door;  a  very  fat  young  man,  with  a  round,  pink  face  and 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   165 

round,  blue  eyes,  who  wore  hanging  from  his  shoulders  the 
skin  and  head  of  a  seal. 

"Brother!"  cried  the  seal's  sister. 

"Yes,"  said  the  fat  young  man,  "it's  me;  and  a  pretty 
little  time  I've  had  among  the  walruses,  I  can  tell  you;"  and 
he  bowed  low  at  the  same  time  to  the  King. 

"Have  you  some  business  with  us,  young  sir?"  said  the 
King. 

"Venison  steak  and  hasty  pudding,"  said  the  fat  young 
man,  with  his  eye  on  the  supper  table.  "Oh;  I  beg  your  par- 
don. I  am  the  milk  man." 

"Milk?  We  want  no  milk  here,"  said  the  King. 

"It's  for  the  Princess,"  said  the  fat  young  man.  "To  be 
taken  externally.  Good  for  lumbago,  rheumatism,  sprains, 
chilblains,  strawberry  rash — " 

"What  is  this  fellow  talking  about?"  said  the  King,  in 
exasperation. 

"Brother!"  said  the  young  woman,  his  sister,  fixing  him 
sternly  with  her  eye. 

"Rub  a  little  on  her  shoulder,"  said  her  brother.  "Direct 
from  the  White  Walrus  on  the  Twelfth  Ice  Floe,  and  the 
walruses  nearly  ate  me  alive  before  I  got  it;  but  here  it  is. 
Excellent  for  all  sorts  of  skin  and  blood  diseases,  as  well 
as—" 

"Brother !"  said  the  young  woman,  sternly. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  the  fat  young  man;  and  with  a 
very  grand  manner  he  took  out  of  his  pocket  an  oyster  shell, 
and  pried  it  open  with  a  knife  from  the  table.  On  the  lower 
half  of  the  shell  was  a  spoonful  of  white  liquid. 


1 66  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

The  Seal  Introduces  His  Liniment,  Guaranteed  to  Cure  in 

All  Cases 

"Very  convenient  milk  bottle,"  said  he;  and  waving  the 
King  aside  he  stepped  up  to  the  Princess  and  went  on  pom- 
pously, as  if  he  were  making  a  speech: 

"I  will  now,"  said  he,  "in  the  presence  of  the  entire  com- 
pany, and  openly  before  you  all,  so  that  you  may  see  that  no 
deception  is  practised  upon  you,  apply  a  modicum  of  my  lini- 
ment to  the  shoulder  of  the  young  lady,  at  the  point  where 
I  perceive  a  stain  of  red,  rubbing  the  same  in  gently  thus, 
with  a  downward  motion  of  the  first  two  fingers  of  the  right 
hand,  thus,  and  thus,  and  thus." 

He  poured  the  white  liquid  from  the  shell  on  to  the  red 
spot  on  the  Princess's  shoulder,  and  rubbed  it  in  gently,  talk- 
ing all  the  while. 

"Now,  ladies  and  gentlemen,"  he  went  on,  "I  call  your  at- 
tention to  the  effects  of  this  lotion  when  properly  applied. 
It  is  warranted  to  be  very  efficacious  in  all  cases  of —  But 
see;  she  lowers  her  hand;  she  moves  her  foot;  she  speaks; 
she—" 

"Father!"  cried  the  Princess,  and  threw  herself  into  her 
father's  arms. 

"Hurrah !"  I  shouted,  and  all  the  company  cheered,  until 
the  rafters  rang  again. 

"Let  the  castle  people  retire,"  said  the  King,  and  he  led 
the  Princess  to  the  table,  where  he  seated  her  at  his  right 
hand,  wiping  his  eyes  and  blowing  his  nose.  When  we  were 
all  at  table,  the  sorcerer  told  his  tale,  and  not  until  he  had 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   167 

heard  it  to  the  end  would  the  King  permit  the  meal  to  pro- 
ceed. I  observed  that  the  son  of  the  assistant  carol  singer 
was  very  attentive  to  the  seal's  sister;  and  as  for  the  fat 
young  man  her  brother, — during  the  repast,  which  lasted  a 
full  two  hours,  he  spoke  not  a  word. 

At  the  end  the  King  begged  him  to  relate  the  story  of  his 
enchantment  and  his  sister's,  and  he  readily  consented; 
whereupon  he  commenced,  without  being  asked  a  second 
time, 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  TALKING  SEAL  AND  HIS  SISTER 

"You  must  know,"  he  began — 

"I  am  very  sorry,"  said  the  Princess  Dorobel,  interrupt- 
ing, "but  it  is  Bo  John's  bedtime,  and  I  fear  we  shall  have  to 
hear  this  story  another  time." 

"Oh,  mother!"  said  Bojohn.  "I  couldn't  go  to  sleep  if  I 
tried.  Please  don't — " 

"No,  my  dear,"  said  the  Princess  Dorobel,  "not  to-night. 
Pray  go  on  with  Alb's  story,  Solario." 

When  the  seal's  story  was  finished  (said  Alb),  the  King 
begged  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer  to  remain  with  him  as  his 
friend  and  adviser;  and  this  the  sorcerer  consented  to  do. 

"And  now,"  said  the  King,  turning  to  me,  "what  reward 
shall  be  yours?  I  will  deny  you  nothing." 

I  knelt  before  him,  and  made  my  request  boldly.  I  knew 
that  my  whole  future  hung  upon  that  moment. 

"The  hand  of  my  lady  Princess,"  said  I,  "if  she  is  will- 
ing." 

"What  do  you  say,  my  dear?"  said  the  King. 


1 68  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

The  Princess  said  nothing,  but  turned  red  as  a  rose,  and 
buried  her  head  on  her  father's  shoulder.  She  was  mine  1  I 
took  her  hand  in  mine  and  kissed  it. 

"That's  settled,"  said  the  King.  "And  you,  sir,"  said  he 
to  the  fat  young  man,  "what  gift  shall  I  bestow  upon  you?" 

"A  little  more  of  the  custard  pie,  if  you  please,"  said  the 
fat  young  man. 


THE  FIFTH  NIGHT 

THE  CITY  OF  DEAD  LEAVES 


f^OLARIO  was  sitting  cross-legged  on  his  worktable, 
i    j      and  before  him,  in  a  row,  sat  the  Executioner,  Bod- 
kin, Bojohn,  Prince  Bilbo,  the  Princess  Dorobel,  and 
the  Queen. 

"This  time,  said  Bojohn,  "we  want  to  hear  the  story  of 
Montesango's  Cave." 

Solario  shook  his  head.  "The  story  is  too  dreadful  alto- 
gether," said  he.  "I  fear  you  would  lie  awake  all  night 

if-" 

"Then  tell  us  about  the  Roving  Griffin,"  said  Bodkin. 

"Or  the  Blind  Giant,"  said  Bojohn. 

"I  am  very  curious  myself,"  said  the  Princess  Dorobel, 
"to  hear  the  story  of  the  seal  and  his  sister.  What  do  you 
say,  mother?" 

"I  remember  very  well,"  said  the  Queen,  dropping  her 
knitting  in  her  lap,  "I  saw  a  seal  once  when  I  was  a  young 

169 


170  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

girl,  and  a  very  curious  creature  it  was,  too,  I'm  sure.  I've 
never  forgotten  it,  because  I  was  on  my  way  to  be  married 
to  your  father, — of  course  he  wasn't  your  father  then,  you 
know, — and  I  think  the  day  I  saw  the  seal  was  the  day  your 
father  was  expected  to  meet  us,  or  the  day  before,  I  can't 
be  quite  certain  now,  it's  so  long  ago;  and  we  were  waiting 
for  him  by  the  seashore, — but  no,  we  weren't  expecting  him 
on  that  day,  because  he  had  sent  a  messenger  to  say  that  he 
couldn't  start  until  all  the  horses  were  shod,  and  the  black- 
smith was  just  getting  over  the  measles.  I  remember  that 
messenger  very  well;  a  small,  dark  man  with  a  beard,  by  the 
name  of — what  was  his  name?  Something  like  Manniko, 
or  Finnikin, — no,  it  was  Tallboy.  That  was  it.  Tallboy.  He 
didn't  stay  with  the  King  very  long  after  we  were  married, 
because  his  sister's  youngest  boy  was  taken  down  with 
the—" 

"Grandmother!"  said  Bojohn.  "Solario  is  waiting  to 
go  on." 

"Dear  me,"  said  the  Queen,  "so  he  is.  I'm  glad  I  brought 
my  knitting  with  me  to-night." 

"I  am  sure,"  said  Prince  Bilbo,  "we  would  all  be  glad  to 
hear  about  the  seal  and  his  sister." 

"Your  will  is  my  pleasure,"  said  Solario,  very  prettily, 
"and  I  will  therefore  now  commence  the  story  of — " 

Here  there  was  a  sharp  cry  from  outside  the  room  door. 

"Let  me  in!"  piped  up  a  voice,  loud  and  sharp  as  a 
whistle. 

Mortimer  the  Executioner  opened  the  door,  and  at  first 
glance  there  appeared  to  be  no  one  there.  But  Bojohn  cried. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    171 

out,  "It's  the  Encourager/"  And  there,  on  the  sill,  was  in 
fact  the  tiny  figure  of  the  Encourager,  no  taller  than  a  spar- 
row, carrying  his  umbrella  folded  under  his  arm.  He  opened 
the  umbrella,  and  leaping  into  the  air  floated  up  with  it  to 
the  Executioner's  shoulder,  where,  folding  the  umbrella 
again,  he  stood  bowing  to  the  company. 

"Dear  me,"  said  the  Queen,  "I  believe  it's  the  Encourager 
of  the  Interrupter." 

"If  there's  anything  going  on,"  piped  up  the  Encourager, 
in  his  shrill  voice,  "I  don't  want  to  be  left  out!" 

"Then  sit  down,  Mortimer,"  said  Prince  Bilbo,  "and  let 
the  Encourager  hear  the  story  too" 

The  Executioner  seated  himself,  and  the  Encourager  sat 
down  on  the  Executioner's  shoulder  and  gazed  solemnly  at 
Solario  with  his  beady  black  eyes. 

"Ahem!"  said  Solario,  clearing  his  throat  and  picking  up 
his  shears.  "I  will  now,  with  your  majesty's  gracious  per- 
mission, proceed  with  the  story  as  it  was  related  to  the  as- 
sembled company  at  Ventamere  by  the  seal,  and  by  Alb  the 
Fortunate  to  myself.  This,  then,  is 

"THE  STORY  OF  TUSH  THE  APOTHECARY,  AND  OF 


PARAVAINE    HIS    SISTER." 


I  must  tell  you  (said  the  fat  young  man),  that  I  am  an 
apothecary,  and  my  name  is  Tush. 

"We  had  a  Lord  Treasurer  once"  interrupted  the  Queen, 
"whose  name  was  Filch.  It  seemed  so  odd." 

My  name  is  Tush;  and  this  damsel,  my  sister,  who  was 
lately  a  Ragpicker,  is  known  as  Paravaine.  So  much  for. 


172  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

that.  I  now  proceed  to  the  catastrophe  which  begins  my 
tale,  and  I  hope  you  will  pardon  me  if  I  pause  at  times  to 
wipe  away  a  tear. 

We  were  left  alone  at  an  early  age,  my  sister  and  myself, 
without  kith  or  kin,  and  we  dwelt  together  in  the  city  of  our 
birth,  the  city  of  Fadz — you  have  heard  of  Fadz?  A  sea- 
port of  the  Kingdom  of  Wen,  a  city  of  ships  and  conversa- 
tion; and  in  that  city  we  dwelt  quietly  together,  and  there  I 
kept  my  shop. 

My  sister,  as  you  may  see  by  looking  at  her,  was  beautiful 
in  the  highest  degree ;  and  I  am  bound  to  admit  to  you  that 
she  was  not  a  little  vain  of  her  beauty,  and  prized  admira- 
tion above  all  things  in  the  world.  Regarding  myself,  I  may 
say  that  I  was  considered  to  be  quite  handsome,  though  a 
trifle  fat. 

In  the  art  of  inventing  remedies  I  greatly  excelled;  and  I 
would  beyond  a  doubt  have  succeeded  in  my  profession,  but 
that  I  was  much  given  to  the  making  of  songs  and  the  tasting 
of  rare  dishes,  and  these  two  occupations  consumed  the 
greater  part  of  my  days.  My  sister,  on  her  part,  applied  her- 
self so  diligently  to  the  adornment  of  her  lovely  person  be- 
fore the  mirror,  that  she  had  scarcely  time  for  anything  else. 
In  consequence,  my  business  and  my  house  fell  into  neglect; 
and  another  apothecary,  a  tuneless  fellow  in  a  neighboring 
street,  who  knew  not  beef  from  mutton,  took  away  all  my 
trade.  But  such  is  the  fate  of  your  true  artist,  the  world 
over. 

I  forgot,  in  the  application  necessary  for  the  composition 
of  songs,  the  foolish  moneys  which  I  chanced  to  owe  here 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   173 

and  there,  and  at  length  (so  dead  to  the  finer  things  of  life 
is  the  coarse  mind  of  trade),  I  could  find  no  one  who  was 
willing  to  trust  us  any  longer,  even  for  the  meanest  knuckle 
of  the  least  respectable  portion  of  a  pig.  I  burn  with  in- 
dignation when  I  think  of  it, — but  I  proceed. 

The  Misfortunes  of  Tush  the  Apothecary 

I  soon  found  out  what  monsters  in  the  shape  of  men — 
However.  Certain  churls,  men  of  no  character,  no  elevation, 
no  refinement, — forgive  me;  I  am  not  quite  myself;  these 
men,  if  I  may  call  them  men,  to  whom  I  owed,  I  believe, 
some  trifling  sums  of  no  account,  came  to  my  shop  one  morn- 
ing in  a  body,  fifteen  or  so;  and  if  you  can  believe  a  thing  so 
monstrous,  they  seized,  they  tore  away,  they  loaded  into 
oxcarts  in  the  street,  in  the  broad  light  of  day,  all  the  goods 
of  my  shop  and  all  the  furnishings  of  my  house.  I  wept,  I 
threatened,  I  raved;  but  all  to  no  purpose.  They  answered 
never  so  much  as  a  word;  they  departed,  and  left  my  sister 
and  myself  without  so  much  as  a  chair  to  sit  on,  or  one  coin 
to  jingle  against  another. 

"Now  that,"  said  the  Queen,  "was  going  entirely  too  far. 
However  did  they  expect  the  poor  man  to  sit  down?" 

One  thing  I  entreated  them  to  spare  me,  my  Perfection 
Cream,  a  salve  or  ointment  of  my  own  invention,  warranted 
to  relieve  in  all  cases  of  affliction  of  the  skin;  a  remedy 
which  I  had  compounded  many  years  before,  and  had  tried 
once  or  twice  on  myself  with  good  results.  Of  this,  having 
never  sold  any,  I  had  on  hand,  in  little  jars,  a  quite  consider- 
able quantity.  They  left  me  this,  with  contempt;  and  my  sis- 


174  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

ter,  observing  it,  begged  them  to  spare  to  her  of  her  own 
possessions  one  thing  only,  her  mirror,  a  handglass  backed 
with  blue  enamel,  with  a  long  handle  of  the  same;  and  this 
also  they  granted,  not  without  a  jeer. 

We  sat  for  a  long  time  upon  the  barren  floor;  and  then 
we  rose,  and  shaking  the  dust  of  the  place  from  our  feet,  we 
departed,  never  to  return.  In  a  pouch  at  my  side  I  carried 
my  Perfection  Cream,  and  in  her  hand  my  sister  carried  her 
blue  mirror ;  and  thus  we  went  forth,  to  try  our  fortunes  in 
the  world. 

We  sought  the  wharves,  designing  to  take  ship  for  some 
distant  clime ;  and  we  found,  in  fact,  a  vessel  loading  for  a 
voyage.  The  ship's  master  was  sitting  on  a  bale,  directing 
the  porters,  and  I  addressed  him  politely,  explaining  our 
case.  He  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  shook  his  head;  but 
he  happened  to  turn  around  and  catch  sight  of  my  sister, 
and  his  manner  changed.  He  jumped  to  his  feet,  bowed,  and 
begged  us  to  come  aboard. 

In  effect,  we  sailed  away.  My  heart  was  light  again.  The 
city  faded  behind  us,  the  sunlight  sparkled  on  the  waves;  and 
I  was  none  the  less  happy  because  I  had  not  the  least  idea 
where  we  were  going.  I  composed  a  song  regarding  life  on 
the  ocean  wave,  and  sang  it  with  ecstasy,  until  my  sister 
begged  me  to  stop. 

The  master  of  the  ship  treated  us  with  distinguished 
courtesy;  I  could  not  help  contrasting  his  conduct  with  that 
of  the  cold-blooded  men  who  had —  But  I  resolved  to 
think  of  them  no  more.  I  gave  myself  up  to  the  pleasures  of 
the  voyage. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   175 

They  Find  Themselves  on  an  Unknown  Shore 

On  the  third  day,  when  we  were  sailing  offshore  in  a  light 
breeze,  my  sister  came  to  me  in  tears.  The  master  of  the 
ship  had  demanded  that  she  marry  him,  as  the  price  of  our 
passage.  I. went  to  him  at  once,  and  remonstrated  with  him 
patiently.  It  was  no  use.  He  was  set  upon  marrying  my 
sister.  We  left  the  matter  to  Paravaine  herself,  and  she  re- 
jected the  proposal  with  scorn.  "You  see !"  said  I,  throwing 
up  my  hands  in  despair.  "Yes,  I  see,"  said  the  mariner. 
"You  wish  to  go  ashore.  I  will  not  detain  you  any  longer." 
The  ship  was  brought  in  closer  to  the  shore,  a  boat  was  low- 
ered, and  my  sister  and  myself  (I  assure  you  the  black- 
hearted scoundrel  bowed  to  us  politely  to  the  last) — my 
sister  and  myself  were  landed  on  a  sandy  beach,  and  the  ship 
sailed  away. 

"Now  isn't  that  a  perfect  shame"  said  the  Queen.  "And 
such  a  nice  young  man,  too" 

We  stood  for  a  time  in  silence,  petrified  with  despair.  A 
vast,  treeless  plain  stretched  away  beyond  the  beach,  far  as 
the  eye  could  see;  there  was  no  human  habitation  anywhere. 
Not  an  ounce  of  food  nor  a  copper  coin  did  we  have  between 
us, — nothing  but  my  Perfection  Cream  and  my  sister's  blue 
mirror.  We  were  at  our  wits'  end. 

"Let  us  sit  down  and  think  what  we  had  better  do,"  said 
I,  and  I  led  my  sister  to  a  brown  rock  embedded  in  the  sand 
at  no  great  distance.  It  was  a  large  rock,  round  and  smooth, 
and  we  sat  down  with  our  backs  against  it,  gazing  mourn- 


176  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

fully  at  the  Great  Sea,  where  it  sparkled  in  the  sunlight.  It 
was  a  beautiful  sight,  and  I  began  to  think  up  a  new  song. 

"I  always  used  to  say,"  said  the  Queen,  "that  the  sea  was 
a  very  pretty  thing,  but  the  King  never  could  abide  it.  He 
used  to  get  so  sick!  And  he  finally  declared  he  would  never 
put  his  foot  on  a  boat  as  long  as  he —  Dear  me!  I  remem- 
ber a  sailor  on  one  of  our  trips  who  had  a  parrot  that  used  to 
talk — Oh,  dear!  Such  things  as  he  did  say!  Oh,  dear!  Oh, 
dear!  When  I  think  of  them!" 

"All  right,  grandmother"  said  Bo  John.  "Go  on,  So- 
lario." 

As  we  sat  there  (said  the  fat  young  man)  with  our  backs 
against  the  brown  rock,  I  amused  myself  by  plucking  away 
idly  certain  blades  of  long  brown  grass  which  fringed  the 
lower  portion  of  the  rock  near  my  hand;  and  these  blades 
I  twined,  scarce  thinking  what  I  did,  into  a  ring  of  a  size  to 
fit  a  finger.  Instead  of  putting  it  on  my  own  finger,  I  took 
my  sister's  hand  and  placed  the  ring,  jestingly,  on  the  first 
finger  of  her  right  hand. 

The  Startling  Effect  of  Making  a  Ring  of  Grass 

No  sooner  was  this  done  than  a  kind  of  groan  came  from 
the  rock.  The  sand  on  which  we  sat  heaved  and  shuddered. 
It  rose  beneath  us,  and  we  were  lifted  slowly  into  the  air; 
and  when  we  were  higher  than  a  man's  height  above  the 
ground  we  were  thrown  off  on  to  the  beach,  and  we  were 
looking  up  at  a  monstrous  creature  in  the  shape  of  a  man, 
who  had  risen  up  under  us  from  beneath  the  sand.  He  was 
chocolate  brown  in  color,  and  he  towered  above  us  full  seven 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   177 

yards  or  more.  The  rock  against  which  we  had  been  sitting 
was,  as  we  now  perceived,  his  head;  he  had  been  lying,  no 
doubt  asleep,  on  his  stomach  under  the  sand,  completely 
covered  except  for  his  head.  We  had  been  sitting  above  his 
buried  shoulders,  and  leaning  against  the  back  of  his  head; 
and  from  this  head,  all  bald  but  for  a  fringe  of  hair  at  the 
bottom,  I  had  plucked  the  hairs  which  I  had  thought  were 
grass. 

"A  genie!"  I  cried,  and  pulled  my  sister  to  her  feet  in 
fright. 

The  genie  opened  his  mouth  in  a  great  yawn,  and  stretched 
his  mighty  arms;  and  as  he  breathed  out  again,  jets  of  flame 
shot  from  his  nostrils.  He  was  bare,  except  for  a  wide  cloth 
twisted  around  his  middle  from  waist  to  thigh,  and  in  the 
waistband  he  wore  a  long,  curved  scimitar,  which  flashed  in 
the  sun.  He  spread  his  hands  out  before  him  and  bowed  low. 

"Were  you  asleep  in  the  sand?"  said  my  sister,  recovering 
her  wits  first. 

He  bowed  again. 

"What  do  you  want  with  us?"  said  my  sister,  becoming 
bolder. 

"I  await  your  commands,"  said  the  genie,  in  a  voice  like 
the  roaring  of  a  waterfall. 

"Oh !"  said  my  sister.  "Is  it  the  ring  of  hair  on  my  finger? 
Is  that  it?" 

He  bowed  again,  extending  his  hands. 

"Then  please!  please!  take  us  away  from  here!"  cried 
my  sister. 

"What  is  it  you  seek?"  said  the  genie. 


178  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"We  seek  the  best  thing  in  the  world!"  cried  my  sister. 
"Take  us  where  we  may  find  it !" 

"What  do  you  mean  by  the  best  thing  in  the  world?"  said 
I  to  my  sister. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  she;  "but  the  genie  ought  to  know, 
and  he'll  take  us  where  we  may  find  it.  Won't  you?"  said 
she,  looking  up  at  him. 

"Hearing  is  obedience !"  said  the  genie,  and  little  jets  of 
fire  spurted  from  his  nostrils. 

"Where  will  you  take  us?"  said  I. 

"I  will  take  you  where  you  may  find  the  best  thing  in  the 
world,"  said  the  genie.  "And  if  you  find  it,  it  will  be  the  best 
thing  in  the  world  for  me  too,  because  it  will  release  me  from 
the  power  of  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer,  who  dwells  in  an 
island  far  out  in  the  Great  Sea.  If  you  don't  find  it,  it  will 
be  your  own  fault,  and  in  that  case, — beware !" 

"This  sounds  pretty  doubtful,"  said  I. 

"No  matter !"  cried  my  sister.  "We  will  find  it.  Take  us 
there  at  once !" 

They  Start  Upon  a  Journey  Through  the  Air 

The  genie  stooped  down  over  us,  and  under  his  right  arm 
he  gathered  me  up,  and  under  his  left  arm  he  gathered  up 
my  sister.  He  stamped  upon  the  earth  so  that  it  shook,  and 
leaped  into  the  air;  and  in  an  instant  we  were  soaring  over 
the  treeless  plain,  and  I  was  sick  with  dizziness.  Higher  and 
higher  we  mounted,  with  the  speed  of  an  arrow;  we  seemed 
to  be  flying  straight  into  the  face  of  the  sun;  I  could  no 


The  genie  flew  away  with  Tush  and  hi»  sister 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   179 

longer  tell  which  was  sea  and  which  was  plain  below.  I 
closed  my  eyes. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  I  opened  them  again.  We  were 
lower,  and  I  could  see  the  plain,  flat  and  grassy,  without  a 
tree.  The  sun  declined,  and  still  we  kept  our  course;  I 
thought  we  should  soon  be  at  the  end  of  the  world;  and 
still  there  were  no  trees  anywhere  on  the  plain  below  us. 

I  ached  in  every  limb ;  I  cried  out,  but  the  genie  did  not 
hear  me ;  and  when  I  was  ready  to  faint  with  exhaustion  his 
speed  suddenly  relaxed,  and  I  saw,  at  the  edge  of  the  hori- 
zon before  me,  what  was,  or  seemed  to  be,  a  city.  And  still 
there  were  no  trees. 

Scarcely  a  moment  passed  before  the  city  rose  in  plain 
view ;  and  with  a  swoop  the  genie  descended  upon  the  earth, 
and  we  were  standing,  all  three  of  us,  before  a  gate  in  the 
city  wall,  and  my  sister  was  arranging  her  hair  before  her 
mirror. 

A  tall  and  muscular  man  stood  beside  the  gate,  as  if  on 
guard.  He  was  chocolate  brown  in  color,  and  he  was  bare 
except  for  a  wide  cloth  twisted  about  his  middle  from  waist 
to  thigh,  and  in  his  right  hand  he  carried  a  scimitar,  which 
flashed  in  the  sunlight.  I  looked  around  for  the  genie,  but 
he  was  gone. 

"What  city  is  this?"  said  I  to  the  Guardian  of  the  Gate. 

"It  is  the  City  of  Dead  Leaves,"  said  the  man.  "What 
do  you  seek  in  the  city?" 

"We  are  seeking,"  said  my  sister,  "the  best  thing  in  the 
world.  We  were  told  that  we  would  find  it  here." 

"Ah  I"  said  the  Guardian,  looking  at  my  sister.   "You  are 


180  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

she  who  has  come  to  save  the  King's  brother.    Come  with 
me." 

He  led  the  way  through  the  gate,  and  we  found  ourselves 
in  an  alley  of  high  walls,  along  which  we  followed  him  for 
some  distance,  coming  out  upon  an  open  plot  of  grass,  sur- 
rounded by  the  same  high  walls  in  a  circle.  As  we  ap- 
proached it,  I  smelled  a  familiar  fragrance,  the  fragrance  of 
orange  blossoms;  and  I  thought  with  some  regret  of  the 
groves  upon  our  slopes  at  home. 

The  Orange  Tree  and  the  Panther 

In  the  center  of  this  plot  was  an  orange  tree.  It  was  green 
with  foliage  and  white  with  blossoms;  the  odor  was  de- 
licious. Under  the  tree,  prowling  stealthily  around  it,  was 
a  panther.  I  drew  back  in  alarm.  "Do  not  go  too  close," 
said  our  guide.  "It  is  death  to  touch  the  tree." 

I  had  no  desire  to  approach  that  terrible  beast,  and  we 
gave  him  a  wide  berth  as  we  proceeded  around  the  rim  of 
the  grassplot  to  an  opening  in  the  opposite  wall.  We  passed 
through  that  opening  into  a  city  street;  a  street  of  glass,  as 
it  seemed,  for  the  front  wall  of  every  house  was  made  of 
glass;  and  within,  in  every  case,  was  a  kind  of  storeroom, 
piled  up  with  something  which  looked  like  dead  leaves.  In 
the  greater  houses  these  rooms  were  piled  quite  full ;  in  the 
meaner  there  were  only  little  mounds;  but  much  or  little, 
they  appeared  to  be  on  exhibition,  as  if  in  pride. 

"The  treasures  of  our  people,"  said  the  Guardian  of  the 
Gate.  "Dead  orange  leaves.  Our  most  precious  possession. 
The  wealth  and  station  of  each  citizen  are  gauged  by  his 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    181 

store  of  dead  leaves.   It  is  of  course  only  proper  to  put  them 
where  they  may  be  seen.     But  come;  the  King's  brother 


awaits  us." 


I  nudged  my  sister.  "The  King's  brother!"  I  whispered. 
"Here  is  a  chance  for  you !"  She  smiled,  and  glanced  into 
her  mirror. 

We  wound  through  many  streets  of  glass,  and  I  observed 
that  besides  glass  the  houses  contained  no  material  but  stone 
and  metal;  the  absence  of  wood  was  very  noticeable.  We 
turned  down  a  mean  street  toward  the  city  wall,  and  came 
out  upon  a  common,  strewn  with  refuse  of  all  kinds,  and 
bounded  on  the  further  side  by  the  wall.  A  shelter  of  canvas 
leaned  against  the  wall,  and  beneath  this  shelter,  on  a  pallet 
of  straw,  lay  a  man  in  rags.  He  raised  himself  on  his  elbow 
and  looked  up  at  us. 

"The  King's  brother,"  said  our  guide,  and  I  started  back 
in  surprise. 

They  Come  Upon  the  King's  Brother  in  Rags 

He  was  a  young  man,  and  very  ugly,  but  not  unpleasant 
to  look  at;  indeed,  his  ugliness  had  something  honest  and 
winning  in  it;  and  if  he  had  not  been  so  ragged,  he  might 
have  made  a  passable  appearance.  As  it  was,  I  laughed  to 
myself  at  the  thought  of  such  a  fellow  in  connection  with  my 
beautiful  sister. 

The  ugly  young  man  stood  up  and  bowed  politely. 

"Is  it  the  first  stranger?"  said  he  to  the  Guardian  of  the 
Gate. 

"It  is,"  said  the  Guardian. 


1 82  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"I  am  content,"  said  the  young  man,  casting  on  my  sister 
a  look  of  admiration. 

"Fair  lady,"  he  went  on,  dropping  on  one  knee  and  taking 
her  hand,  "if  you  are  not  pledged  elsewhere,  I  beseech  you 
to  accept  me  as  a  suitor  for  your  hand.  Stay;  do  not  repulse 
me  at  my  first  word,  but  hear  me  further,  and  take  time  to 
consider.  I  am  the  King's  younger  brother;  and  because  I 
would  not  marry  a  lady  of  his  choosing,  he  has  cast  me  out, 
swearing  that  I  shall  remain  in  this  misery  unless  I  shall 
marry  the  first  stranger  who  shall  come  to  our  gates.  Oh, 
fortunate  hour  that  brought  you  here  the  first  of  all !  I  am 
poor;  I  do  not  possess  a  single  leaf;  but  I  will  devote  myself 
to  you  loyally,  and  I  do  not  think  you  will  regret  it.  I  know, 
having  seen  you,  that  I  cannot  live  without  you.  Do  not 
refuse  me  now,  but  at  the  end  of  a  week  give  me  your 
answer." 

He  kissed  her  hand  fervently,  and  arose.  I  confess  that 
I  liked  this  young  man,  but  of  course  I  could  not  think  of 
marrying  my  sister  to  one  so  utterly  forlorn.  I  answered 
for  her. 

"In  a  week  I  will  let  you  know,"  said  I,  and  drew  my 
sister  away. 

"Before  you  go,"  said  he,  "let  me  give  you  a  warning. 
Look  at  my  hands." 

He  held  out  his  palms,  and  I  saw  that  they  were  covered 
with  a  rash,  red  and  angry-looking.  He  rubbed  his  palms 
together,  as  if  to  soothe  an  irritation. 

"The  itching  palms !"  said  he.  "I  have  handled  the  dead 
leaves  all  my  life;  and  because  I  have  handled  them  my 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    183 

palms  itch,  itch,  all  day  and  night,  without  ever  a  moment's 
peace.  I  warn  you  not  to  touch  the  dead  leaves.  The  dead 
leaves  of  the  orange  tree;  do  not  touch  them." 

"Very  well,"  said  I,  and  with  these  words  we  left  him. 

The  Guardian  of  the  Gate,  leading  us  back  into  the  city 
streets,  turned  and  said: 

"You  have  just  had  your  first  chance  to  gain  the  best 
thing  in  the  world.  I  will  now  give  you  your  second.  Be 
careful  how  you  choose." 

We  entered  a  street  of  shops ;  and  I  now  noticed  that  the 
people  were,  each  of  them,  rubbing  their  palms  together,  as 
if  to  soothe  an  intolerable  itching. 

I  paused  to  look  into  one  of  the  shops  as  we  passed.  The 
customers  within  were  handing  over  to  the  dealer,  in  return 
for  his  goods,  leaves,  dead  leaves,  of  the  sort  we  had  seen 
in  the  glass  showrooms;  and  whenever  these  dead  leaves 
passed  from  hand  to  hand,  I  remarked  that  the  itching  of 
the  palm  they  touched  became  more  exasperating,  so  that 
the  people  were  quite  beside  themselves,  and  could  not  keep 
quiet  on  their  feet;  but  the  dealer  nevertheless  received  the 
dead  leaves  eagerly,  and  the  others  gave  them  up  with  re- 
luctance. 

"These  people  are  mad,"  said  I. 

We  joined  a  great  rout  of  people,  all  rubbing  their  hands, 
who  were  pouring  down  a  street  in  the  direction  of  an  open 
square ;  and  when  we  reached  it,  we  saw  in  the  center,  on  a 
platform  above  the  heads  of  the  crowd,  a  man  in  a  robe, 
who  was  evidently  about  to  read  from  a  paper  held  in  his 
hand. 


1 84  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"Your  second  chance,"  said  the  Guardian  of  the  Gate. 
"I  will  leave  you  to  your  choice.  Be  careful  how  you 
choose." 

He  turned  away,  and  disappeared  in  the  crowd. 

"Hear  ye!  Hear  ye  !"  cried  the  man  on  the  platform.  "A 
message  from  the  King!  Whereas  the  affliction  of  the  itch- 
ing palm  has  now  become  so  grievous  that  it  can  no  longer 
be  endured,  the  King  now  offers,  to  such  person  as  shall 
cure  him,  one-half  of  all  the  dead  leaves  in  his  treasury  I 
And  to  him  also  he  promises  one-half  of  all  the  dead  leaves 
belonging  to  each  person  whom  he  shall  cure !  The  offer  is 
open  to  all!  Be  diligent!  Thus  saith  the  King!" 

The  messenger  got  down,  and  immediately  there  arose 
near  the  platform  a  commotion,  with  much  laughter,  and 
those  in  that  neighborhood  began  to  cry  out: 

"Way  for  the  Lord  Buffo !  Make  way  for  the  wise  Lord 
Buffo!" 

A  Dwarf  Clad  in  Motley  Stands  up  to  Speak 

A  singular  figure  now  mounted  the  platform,  facing  in 
our  direction.  He  was  a  dwarf,  hunchbacked  and  thickset, 
with  a  very  large  head  set  deep  in  his  shoulders,  and  arms 
which  hung  to  his  knees.  His  clothing  was  of  squares  of 
yellow  and  blue  and  green  and  orange,  and  on  his  head  he 
wore  a  paper  crown,  rimmed  around  at  the  top  with  little 
bells.  With  his  right  hand  he  pulled  up  by  a  cord  a  small 
monkey,  dressed  in  all  respects  like  himself;  and  in  his  other 
hand  he  held  the  long  tail  feather  of  a  cock. 

"The  King's  Fool,"  said  one  of  the  bystanders  in  my  ear. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    185 

The  Fool  waved  the  feather,  and  the  crowd  settled  itself 
to  listen. 

"Hear  ye !   Hear  ye !"  he  cried,  in  a  loud,  harsh  voice. 

At  this  the  people  shouted,  "Go  on,  go  on!" 

The  monkey  leaped  up  on  to  the  dwarf's  shoulder,  and 
the  dwarf  proceeded,  with  the  greatest  gravity. 

"I,  Buffo,  chief  counselor  to  his  most  gracious  majesty, 
King  Fatchaps,  do  call  upon  you  to  hearken  to  the  voice 
of  Wisdom  1" 

"Wisdom!  That's  good!"  laughed  the  crowd, — never 
ceasing  to  rub  their  palms  and  dance  up  and  down  the  while. 

"First  I  must  tell  you,  my  loyal  subjects,  that  you  are  all 
mad.  Do  you  believe  it?" 

"Yes !  yes !    Of  course !"  shouted  the  crowd,  still  laughing. 

"Give  ear,  and  I  will  prove  it  to  you !  Thus !  Answer 
me !  Isn't  there  enough  in  our  city  for  all,  to  feed  you  and 
clothe  you  and  shelter  you  and  amuse  you?  Answer!" 

"True !"  cried  many  persons  in  the  throng. 

"Then  why  are  there  some  among  you  who  starve,  and 
others  who  cast  out  of  their  abundance  to  the  dogs?  Tell  me 
that!" 

No  one  replied. 

"Because  you  are  mad !  With  the  itching  palm !  Look 
at  you !  You  can't  stand  still  on  your  feet  I  Rub,  rub !  Want 
in  the  midst  of  plenty !  Scratch,  scratch  !  Some  with  too  little 
and  some  with  too  much !  Rub,  rub !  And  enough  for  every- 
body in  reason  !  Scratch,  scratch !  All  mad,  all  mad  I  Rub, 
rub !  Look  at  me — have  I  itching  palms?"  He  held  up  his 
hands,  palms  outward. 


1 86  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"No  1"  exclaimed  several  in  the  crowd. 

"Tell  me  why!  Tell  me  why!  Because  I  touch  not  the 
dead  leaves!  Isn't  it  so?" 

No  one  answered. 

"Give  ear,  madmen,  and  I  will  reveal  to  you  how  to  cure 
the  itching  palm  I  Bring  the  dead  orange  leaves  here  to  the 
square !  Pile  them  up !  Burn  them,  burn  them,  burn  them, 
everyone!  That's  it  I  Will  you  give  up  the  dead  leaves?" 

"No !"  roared  the  people  as  if  with  one  voice. 

"Then  farewell,  madmen!"  cried  the  Fool,  and  he  jerked 
the  monkey  from  his  shoulder  and  descended  from  the  plat- 
form. 

The  people,  still  rubbing  their  hands  together  and  danc- 
ing, but  laughing  withal,  rapidly  left  the  square,  and  my 
sister  and  myself  started  to  go;  and  as  we  started,  the  dwarf 
appeared  before  us  with  his  monkey,  and  cocked  his  eye  up 
at  us  waggishly. 

"What,  ho !"  said  the  Fool.  "Strangers,  by  the  ears  of  a 
donkey!  Greeting,  strangers,  what  do  you  among  my  mad 
subjects?" 

"To  tell  you  the  truth,  my  lord,"  said  I,  making  up  my 
mind  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  "I  have  come  here  with  my 
sister  from  a  distant  land,  to  cure  the  people  and  their 
King  of  the  itching  palm." 

"How  so?"  said  the  hunchback,  sharply. 

"With  a  little  remedy  of  my  own,"  said  I,  tapping  my 
pouch. 

"Bah!"  said  the  Fool,  jerking  the  monkey's  cord.  "Go 
home,  madman,  you  are  wasting  your  time." 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   187 

"One  moment!"  I  said.  "Conduct  me  to  the  King,  I  beg 
you.  You  shall  see  me  prove  my  boast." 

He  looked  up  at  me  sidewise.  "Pouf !"  said  he,  snapping 
his  fingers.  "Old  Fatchaps  is  as  big  a  fool  as  you  are.  Here ; 
I'll  give  you  a  chance;  there's  nobody  here  to  help  me.  I  ask 
you,  will  you  help  me?  I  have  a  plan  to  gather  the  leaves 
together  and  burn  them.  With  your  help  I  can  do  it,  and  we 
will  save  the  people  together.  Will  you  help?" 

"Not  I,"  said  I,  laughing  again.  "The  people  would  tear 
us  both  to  pieces." 

"What  does  that  matter?"  said  the  Fool. 

"It  matters  to  me,"  said  I. 

"Is  that  your  choice?"  said  the  Fool.  "You  have  made 
your  choice?  Done,  then.  Come  with  me.  I  will  take  you  to 
the  King;  and  you  will  wish  that  I  hadn't.  Oh,  these  fools! 
The  time  is  coming  when  I  must  take  the  case  in  hand  my- 
self, all  alone;  for  I  will  tell  you  a  secret;  lend  me  your  ear." 
He  pulled  my  head  down,  and  whispered  fiercely  in  my  ear. 
"I  love  this  people,  and  I  will  save  them;  whether  they  will 
or  no.  D'ye  hear?  They  are  my  people,  and  they  must  be 
saved !  Whether  they  will  or  no !  And  then  what  a  bonfire  I 
What  a  bonfire !" 

He  jerked  the  monkey's  cord  again,  and  made  off  swiftly. 
We  followed  him,  and  my  sister  said  to  me,  in  a  low  voice, 
"Do  you  think  he  is  mad?" 

"That,"  said  I,  "is  precisely  what  I  do  not  know." 


i88  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 


Buffo  the  Fool  Leads  Them  to  the  Palace 

In  a  few  moments  we  entered  and  crossed  the  grounds  of 
an  immense  palace,  and  Buffo  the  Fool  opened  the  palace 
door  without  ceremony  and  preceded  us  into  a  great  hall, 
where  he  stopped  and  said: 

"I  must  have  a  good  look  at  you  first.  Buffino,  my 
mirror!" 

The  monkey  darted  off  down  the  hall  and  up  the  stair- 
case. While  he  was  gone  the  Fool  said  to  me : 

"You  have  seen  the  orange  tree  and  the  panther?" 

"Yes,"  said  I. 

"Do  they  worship  the  orange  tree  in  your  country?" 

"No,  no,"  said  I.  "Orange  trees  are  the  commonest  of 
our  possessions.  We  have  them  by  thousands.  Their  leaves 
are  of  no  account." 

"So?"  said  he,  with  a  look  which  said  that  he  did  not 
believe  it.  "We  have  no  tree  in  all  this  city,  nor  anywhere 
in  all  this  land,  but  a  single  orange  tree.  No  one  knows  how 
the  seed  came  here.  We  worship  that  tree ;  nothing  else." 

"A  very  pretty  sentiment,"  said  I.  "Nothing  could  be 
prettier." 

"Hideous!"  said  he.  "The  leaves  that  drop  from  that 
tree  and  die  are  the  cause  of  all  our  evil.  We  fight  over 
them,  we  steal  them,  we  waste  our  lives  in  getting  them,  and 
we  suffer  the  agony  of  the  itching  palm  when  they  are  ours. 
Will  you  help  me  destroy  the  panther  that  guards  the 
tree?" 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   189 

"Certainly  not,"  said  I  with  a  shiver. 

"You  haye  made  your  choice,"  said  the  Fool.  "Buffino, 
give  me  the  mirror." 

The  monkey,  who  had  now  returned,  handed  to  the  dwarf 
a  large  mirror,  and  the  Fool  held  it  up  before  my  sister. 

Instead  of  the  beautiful  person  of  my  sister  appeared  in 
the  glass  the  face  and  figure  of  an  old  woman,  bent,  ugly, 
and  wrinkled.  My  sister  started  back  in  dismay,  and  the 
dwarf  held  up  the  mirror  before  myself.  It  showed  me  a 
gross,  puffy  face  with  three  chins  and  pig's  eyes,  horribly  re- 
pulsive. I  shuddered. 

"Just  as  I  thought,"  said  the  Fool.  "Tell  me  now,  have 
you  seen  the  King's  brother?" 

"Yes,"  said  I. 

"Will  you  marry  him?"  said  he  to  my  sister. 

"Oh!"  said  she.     "How  could  I?    I  can't  say.     I'm—" 

"Just  as  I  thought,"  said  the  dwarf.  "And  you  won't 
help  me  cure  my  people.  What  is  it  you  came  here  to  seek?" 

"We  are  seeking  the  best  thing  in  the  world,"  said  I. 

"And  what  is  that?" 

"I  don't  know;  but  we'll  certainly  recognize  it  when  we 
find  it." 

"Not  you,"  said  the  dwarf;  "not  until  my  mirror  shows 
you  fair  and  comely;  then  you'll  know  it." 

"How  are  we  to  get  it  to  show  us  fair  and  comely?" 
said  I. 

"One  of  you  by  saving  a  miserable  outcast,  and  the  other 
by  saving  a  whole  people;  then  you'll  be  fair  and  comely, 
inside  and  out,  but  not  until  then." 


1 90  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"You  talk  in  riddles,  master  Buffo,"  said  I.  "Let  us  go  to 
the  King." 

"Madman!"  said  the  dwarf,  and  gave  the  mirror  back  to 
the  monkey,  who  scampered  off  with  it  and  disappeared. 

We  followed  the  Fool  up  the  great  staircase  and  into  a 
distant  wing  of  the  palace,  and  stopped  at  a  door,  on  which 
the  hunchback  knocked.  Receiving  no  answer,  he  opened  the 
door  and  led  us  in.  "Your  majesty!"  he  cried. 

They  Find  the  King  in  a  Terrible  State 

The  King  was  pacing  the  floor,  grinding  and  scratching 
his  palms  together,  and  muttering  angrily  to  himself.  He 
was  an  enormous  man  with  a  puffy,  red  face,  a  snub  nose,  and 
three  chins,  and  he  wheezed  as  he  walked.  His  hair  stood 
up  on  end  all  over  his  head  as  if  it  was  trying  to  fly  off.  His 
fat  legs  went  back  and  forth  in  a  kind  of  tripping  run,  and 
his  fat  hands  rubbed  and  scratched  and  slapped  each  other 
in  a  perfect  frenzy. 

"What,  what!"  he  cried,  never  halting  for  an  instant. 
"What's  the  matter,  what's  the  matter?" 

"Stop  a  minute,  King  Fatchaps !"  said  the  Fool.  "Here's 
a  madman  come  to  cure  your  itching  palms !  Ha,  ha !" 

"What  do  you  say?  What  do  you  say?"  said  the  King, 
dancing  along,  back  and  forth. 

"It  is  true,  your  majesty,"  said  I. 

"You  can  cure  me?  What  do  you  say?  You're  an  im- 
postor !  They're  all  impostors !  Can  you  cure  me  ?  Why 
don't  you  do  it  then?" 

"I  understand,"  said  I,  "that  a  reward  is  offered — " 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   191 

"Well,  well?  What  of  it?"  said  the  King,  wheezing  and 
puffing.  "Half  of  my  dead  leaves!  What  of  it?" 

"The  fact  is,"  said  I,  "we  should  prefer  gold  or  silver." 

"Impudence!"  cried  the  King.  "Gold?  Silver?  What 
do  you  mean?  I  never  heard  of  them." 

"He'll  take  the  leaves,  never  fear,"  said  the  dwarf.  "Oh, 
yes." 

"Take  'em !"  cried  the  King.  "Who  is  the  beautiful  lady? 
Take  'em?  Dead  leaves  or  nothing!  Take  'em  or  leave 
'em!" 

It  was  plain  that  a  fortune  of  dead  leaves  was  as  good  as 
any  other,  if  you  only  thought  it  so,  and  if  these  people 
thought  it  so,  as  they  evidently  did,  I  might  as  well  take  it. 

"I  am  satisfied,  your  majesty,"  said  I,  "and  if  you  will 
hold  out  your  palm,  I  will  work  the  cure." 

The  Perfection  Cream  Is  Rubbed  into  the  Itching  Palm 

The  King  held  out  his  left  hand  as  he  passed,  and  I  trot- 
ted along  beside  him,  and  drawing  from  my  pouch  one  of 
my  little  jars,  I  applied  to  the  King's  palm,  with  my  fingers, 
a  small  portion  of  my  salve,  rubbing  it  in  as  well  as  I  could; 
and  then  I  ran  around  to  his  other  side,  and  did  the  same  for 
his  other  hand.  It  was  rather  difficult,  considering  that  I  had 
to  trot  along  beside  him  as  he  tripped  back  and  forth  across 
the  carpet. 

"What,  what,  what!  Bless  my  soul!"  cried  the  King, 
stopping  suddenly.  "It  feels  better!" 

I  bowed  and  smiled,  and  Buffo  the  Fool  said,  "Mad,  old 
Fatchaps!  Both  of  you  mad!" 


192  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"Speak  when  you're  spoken  to!"  said  the  King.  "Who 
asked  your  opinion  ?  Pfoo !  pfoo !  I  haven't  any  breath  left ! 
Not  another  word  out  of  you,  sir !  I  know  when  I'm  cured  i 
I'm  no  fool,  I'm  no  fool !" 

"Oh,  no,  not  at  all !"  said  the  Fool. 

"Here,  you !"  said  the  King.  "Take  this  young  man  and 
his  wife  and  feed  'em,  and  let  'em  sleep  in  the  palace.  I'll 
settle  with  'em  in  the  morning,  if  the  itching's  gone.  I'm  no 
fool." 

"Not  my  wife, — my  sister,"  said  I,  bowing. 

"What  do  you  say?"  cried  the  King.  "Oh,  that's  differ- 
ent I" 

He  bowed  before  my  sister,  and  kissed  her  hand  very 
respectfully. 

"Bless  my  soul !  Beautiful  as  a  moonbeam !  What  do  you 
say?  Where  do  you  come  from,  eh?  The  itching's  gone. 
But  I'll  wait  till  morning.  I'm  no  fool.  Be  off  with  you, 
clown,  and  let  'em  eat  and  sleep  in  the  palace.  What  do  you 
say?  He  shall  cure  the  whole  city,  and  I'll  make  'em  give 
up  half  of  all  their  dead  leaves  to  him !  In  the  morning,  in 
the  morning!  What  do  you  say?  Be  off  with  you !" 

We  hastily  left  him,  and  as  we  passed  down  the  hall  we 
saw  him  poke  his  head  out  of  the  door  and  heard  him  call : 

"Ho!  I'm  cured!  Where's  that  confounded  chamber- 
lain? Send  me  the  chamberlain!  What  do  you  say?  I'm 
cured!"  And  he  banged  the  door  shut  again. 

That  night  we  dined  sumptuously  and  slept  in  gorgeous 
apartments  in  the  palace.  In  the  morning,  being  once  more 
conducted  by  Buffo  to  the  King,  we  found  him  in  a  transport 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    193 

of  happiness.    The  cure  was  perfect.    He  kissed  my  sister's 
hand,  and  threw  his  arms  about  me,  and  cried: 

"It's  yours!  Half  of  my  dead  leaves,  and  I'll  make  a 
Prince  out  of  you !  Not  a  word  I  What  do  you  say?  Never 
woke  up  once  last  night !  Get  to  work  and  cure  all  my  peo- 
ple. Where's  that  confounded  chamberlain?  Get  to  work, 
get  to  work!" 

Tush  the  Apothecary  Takes  the  People  in  Hand 

The  arrangements  were  soon  made.  I  took  my  stand  on 
the  palace  steps,  and  all  day  long  the  people  filed  before  me, 
and  into  each  palm  I  rubbed  a  little  of  my  salve.  It  was  a 
work  of  days,  and  all  business  stopped  until  my  task  was 
done.  At  the  end,  the  city  was  cured;  never  were  there  in 
this  world  a  people  so  beside  themselves  with  joy. 

In  the  square  where  I  had  first  met  the  King's  Fool  the 
King  caused  to  be  thrown  up,  with  five  hundred  pairs  of 
willing  hands,  a  vat  of  hardened  mud  in  blocks,  and  into  this 
vat  his  servants  poured  for  me  a  good  full  half  of  all  the 
dead  orange  leaves  in  his  treasury,  and  on  top  of  these,  from 
each  of  those  whom  I  had  cured,  one-half  of  his  store  of 
leaves;  so  that  when  all  was  done  the  vat  was  just  half  full. 
I  was  rich;  richer  than  the  King  himself;  and  my  Perfection 
Cream  was  all  gone. 

I  hinted  to  the  King  that  some  kind  of  covering  should  be 
provided  for  the  vat,  to  protect  my  riches  from  the  weather. 

"What,  what?"  said  he,  his  face  growing  a  trifle  purple. 
"There's  no  rain  at  this  time  of  year!  What  do  you  say? 
All  in  good  time  !  I  can't  do  everything  in  a  minute  1" 


194  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

Now  it  came  to  pass,  as  you  may  guess,  that  the  King 
grew  daily  more  smitten  with  my  sister's  beauty.  Scarcely 
a  day  passed  on  which  he  did  not  visit  us  in  the  splendid 
apartments  in  his  palace  which  he  had  given  us  for  our  own. 
His  favors  became  more  lavish  as  time  went  on;  they  could 
have  only  one  meaning.  "You  shall  be  Queen!"  said'l  to 
my  sister,  and  she  smiled  knowingly. 

We  were  expecting,  one  evening,  a  visit  from  the  King, 
when  the  Fool  entered  our  apartment,  and  behind  him  came, 
instead  of  the  King,  the  King's  ugly  brother.  I  was  startled, 
for  I  had  forgotten  him  completely. 

He  knelt  beside  my  sister,  and  took  her  hand  tenderly 
in  his. 

"Dear  lady,"  he  said,  "I  do  not  blame  you  that  you  have 
neglected  your  promise.  I  have  stolen  here  at  great  risk 
to  lay  myself  again  at  your  feet.  Surely  a  loyal  heart  must 
weigh  with  you  more  than  rank  or  riches.  Ah,  dear  lady, 
say  that  you  will  be  mine !" 

I  confess  that  there  was  something  about  this  young  man 
which  made  me  like  him  better  than  before;  but  of  course 
a  match  such  as  he  proposed  was  out  of  the  question. 

My  sister  shook  her  head  and  drew  away  her  hand.  "I 
cannot,  I  cannot,"  she  said. 

"Tell  me,"  he  said,  "do  you  think  well  of  me — do  you 
care  for  me  a  little — do  you  think  you  can  say  you  love  me, 
ever  so  little?" 

"I  do !  I  do !"  cried  my  sister,  to  my  amazement,  hiding 
her  face  in  her  hands.  "I  loved  you  on  the  first  day  I  saw 
you !  I  can't  help  it !  I  do !" 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    195 

"Ah,  then,"  said  the  young  man,  rising,  while  I  on  my 
part  remained  speechless  with  astonishment,  "what's  to 
hinder?  You  are  mine!" 

"No,  no,"  said  my  sister,  weeping,  "it  can  never  be." 

"Is  it  because  I  am  poor  and  friendless?" 

My  sister  said  never  a  word. 

"Is  it  because  you  prize  rank  and  wealth  more  than  love?" 

Still  my  sister  said  nothing. 

The  young  man  hesitated,  and  stooping  to  kiss  her  hand, 
he  said,  "I  have  received  my  answer;"  and  with  these  words 
he  strode  mournfully  to  the  door.  But  she  did  not  look  up 
at  him,  and  with  a  sigh  of  deep  grief  he  left  us. 

Paravaine  Has  Made  Her  Choice 

"The  wrong  choice  once  more,"  said  the  Fool,  and  he, 
too,  went  his  way. 

My  sister  had  hardly  dried  her  eyes  when  there  came  a 
knock  upon  the  door  behind  her,  and  the  King  entered.  She 
did  not  turn  round,  and  the  King  tripped  in  silently  on  his 
toes,  putting  a  finger  roguishly  to  his  lips  and  shaking  all 
over  with  mirth;  and  coming  up  behind  her  he  placed  his 
two  fat  hands  over  her  eyes,  wagging  his  eyebrows  up  and 
down  at  me. 

"Guess  who  it  is!"  he  cried,  wheezing.  "What  do  you 
say?  It's  somebody  come  a-wooing!  Never  mind  who !  Ha, 
ha,  ha !  Guess  who  it  is,  and  to-morrow  you'll  be  Queen ! 
What  do  you  say?  Pouf !  Pah !  I'm  all  out  of  breath.  It's 
somebody  that  wants  you  to  be  his  Queen.  Guess !  The 
most  beautiful  Queen  in  the  whole — " 


196  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

He  stopped  suddenly.  The  King's  Fool  and  his  monkey 
had  slipped  into  the  room  behind  him  and  were  standing  be- 
fore my  sister,  and  the  dwarf  was  holding  up  his  mirror  be- 
fore my  sister's  face. 

"What,  what,  what!"  cried  the  King  in  a  rage,  taking 
away  his  hands  from  my  sister's  eyes.  "What  do  you  mean? 
Out  of  my  sight,  Fool !  Away !  Begone !" 

The  dwarf  held  the  mirror  higher,  shaking  with  laughter 
the  while,  and  my  sister  gazed  into  it.  I  saw  her  shudder  and 
turn  pale,  and  then  she  screamed  and  buried  her  face  in  her 
hands. 

The  King,  staring  likewise  into  the  mirror,  turned  purple 
and  remained  as  if  frozen  with  horror.  He  shook  himself, 
and  gave  a  choking  gasp. 

"What's  this?"  he  cried.  "It's  the— what  a—  Take  it 
away.  She's  an  old  woman !  She's  a  witch !  What  a — 
I'm  no  fool,  it's  a  trick,  I  knew  it  all  the  time !  Take  her 
away !  She's  an  old  woman.  You  can't  play  tricks  on  me,  I 
won't  have  it,  I  won't  stand  it.  She's  a  witch  1  I'm  going. 
I  won't  stay.  It's  a  trick.  I'm  no  fool  1" 

With  these  words,  puffing  and  wheezing,  he  trotted  on 
his  fat  legs  out  of  the  room. 

"No  marriage  yet,"  said  the  Fool,  looking  at  me  queerly, 
and  he  ran  after  the  King,  pulling  his  monkey  along  with 
him. 

He  Finds  Himself  Rubbing  His  Palms  Together 

That  night,  as  I  stood  before  my  mirror,  undressing,  and 
comforting  myself  with  the  thought  of  all  the  magnificence 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    197 

I  had  acquired  and  would  acquire  with  my  dead  orange 
leaves,  I  found  myself  rubbing  the  palm  of  my  right  hand 
with  the  fingers  of  my  left.  I  was  aware  of  a  slight  itching 
in  the  palm. 

At  breakfast  in  the  morning,  I  noticed  that  my  sister,  who 
was  very  sober,  would  now  and  then  scratch  the  palm  of  her 
right  hand;  but  I  said  nothing,  and  in  the  afternoon,  without 
questioning  her  on  the  subject  of  her  love  for  the  King's 
brother,  I  prepared  to  visit  the  King,  to  try  if  I  could  not 
bring  him  back  to  reason.  I  was  ready  to  leave,  when  my 
sister  broke  into  my  room,  crying  out  frantically: 

"I  can't  stand  it,  I  can't  stand  it!  The  itching  in  my 
palms!  It  won't  stop  for  a  moment!  I  can't  sit  still!  It's 
growing  worse  and  worse !  Oh,  brother,  cure  it,  cure  it,  or 
I  shall  go  mad!" 

She  walked  up  and  down  the  room  in  a  frenzy,  rubbing 
her  palms  together.  I  tried  in  vain  to  pacify  her,  and  at 
length  I  left  her  and  betook  myself  to  the  King. 

On  my  way  the  itching  of  the  night  before  returned,  and 
this  time  I  felt  it  in  both  my  hands.  I  knew  that  my  sister 
and  myself,  in  common  with  the  King  and  all  his  subjects, 
had  been  handling  the  dead  leaves  freely  since  I  had  worked 
the  cure,  and  I  began  to  be  uneasy. 

When  I  knocked  at  the  King's  door  the  voice  of  the  Fool 
said  "Come  in,"  and  I  found  the  King  running  with  his  trip- 
ping step  up  and  down  the  room,  rubbing  his  hands,  and  be- 
side him  trotted  the  Fool  and  the  monkey. 

"Imbecile !"  cried  the  King,  without  stopping  for  an  in- 
stant. "You  shall  die  the  death!  A  trick,  a  trick!  And 


198  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

half  of  my  dead  leaves  gone  for  nothing !  A  death  in  boiling 
oil!  What  do  you  say?  Don't  answer  me!  My  hands,  my 
hands !  Worse  than  before !  You  shall  suffer,  you  shall 
suffer!  A  slow  death!  Why  don't  you  speak?  What  are 
you  going  to  do?" 

"Ha,  ha,  ha !"  laughed  the  Fool.  "He's  been  handling 
the  dead  leaves  again,  and  so  have  you  all.  It'll  be  my  turn 
soon!  My  turn  soon!" 

"Patience,  your  majesty,"  said  I,  rubbing  my  hands.  "I 
will  go  to  work  at  once  and  prepare  more  of  my  salve.  Have 
no  fear.  I  will  cure  you  instantly.  I  am  off  to  my  work." 

He  Cannot  Find  the  Ingredients  for  Making  the  Salve 

"Pouf !  Pah !"  said  the  King,  angrily,  and  I  ran  from  the 
room,  to  find  the  ingredients  necessary  for  my  salve.  But 
alas,  they  were  not  to  be  found.  I  sent  everywhere ;  the  city 
was  scoured;  but  it  was  no  use;  I  was  in  despair.  Such  sim- 
ples as  could  be  found  I  gathered  together,  and  of  these  I 
made  a  new  remedy, — far  different  from  my  old,  but  it  was 
the  best  I  could  do.  I  tried  it  on  myself,  and  felt  an  almost 
instant  relief.  I  shouted  with  joy. 

I  returned  to  the  King,  and  as  I  passed  an  open  window 
in  the  great  hall  I  heard  the  muttering  of  many  voices  out- 
side, and  I  saw  a  great  concourse  of  people  in  the  palace 
grounds,  all  talking  angrily,  and  all  rubbing  their  hands  and 
dancing  on  their  toes  in  anguish.  They  began  to  shout  my 
name,  and  I  knew  that  if  I  should  fall  among  them  in  their 
present  temper  I  should  be  lost. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    199 

The  King  was  trotting  up  and  down  as  before,  and  the 
dwarf  and  the  monkey  were  running  along  beside  him. 

"What,  what?"  he  cried.  "What  now?  No  tricks!  I'm 
no  fool.  What's  the  matter?" 

"If  I  cure  you,"  said  I,  holding  up  my  box  of  ointment, 
"I  must  have  the  rest  of  your  leaves;  and  from  every  one 
I  cure  I  must  have  the  rest  of  his ;  it  is  only  just." 

"Anything!"  cried  the  King.  "You  can't  do  it!  It's  an- 
other trick !  I'll  give  all  the  dead  leaves  in  the  city  to  any- 
one who  can  save  me  and  my  people !  It's  a  trick !  You 
can't  do  it.  What  are  you  waiting  for?  Try  it!  Oh,  these 
hands !  It's  no  use !  Hurry  up  !" 

I  seized  his  hand,  and  running  beside  him  I  rubbed  into 
his  palm  a  little  of  my  new  ointment;  and  running  around 
to  his  other  side  I  did  the  same  for  his  other  hand. 

"See  the  madmen!"  cried  the  Fool,  clapping  his  hands 
in  glee. 

"By  the  beard  of  my  uncle  !"  cried  the  King.  "I  feel  bet- 
ter! It's  going!  It's  gone!  It's  all  over!  I'm  cured!  Oh, 
wonderful  young  man,  come  to  my  arms!  What  do  you 
say?  I  knew  you  could  do  it  all  the  time.  I'm  cured !" 

He  grasped  my  arm  and  pulled  me  from  the  room,  and 
down  the  stairway  to  the  front  door.  A  great  throng  filled 
the  grounds,  from  the  door  to  the  gate;  and  commanding 
silence,  the  King  announced  in  a  loud  voice  that  I  was  ready 
with  my  cure,  and  that  whoever  wished  to  be  cured  should 
give  up  the  remainder  of  his  dead  leaves. 

There  was  a  moment's  hesitation,  but  the  anguish  of  their 
affliction  was  too  great;  the  people  whispered  together, 


200  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

doubtless  remarking  that  they  would  soon  get  back  their 
leaves  in  trade;  and  at  any  rate  they  began  to  file  before  me, 
and  my  healing  work  commenced;  but  not  before  I  had  ap- 
plied my  salve,  in  sight  of  all,  to  my  sister's  palms,  and  given 
her  immediate  relief. 

All  that  day  and  the  next  and  for  several  days  the  work 
continued,  and  in  each  case  the  itching  vanished  at  once;  the 
city  was  cured  again,  and  my  vat  in  the  public  square  was 
filled  to  the  brim,  with  all  the  dead  orange  leaves  that  the 
people  owned.  The  glory  of  my  future  was  beyond  calcu- 
lation; my  sister,  I  resolved,  should  yet  be  Queen;  and  I 
planned  for  myself  such  offices  in  the  state  as  should  give 
me  power  even  greater  than  the  King's. 

When  I  awoke  in  my  bed  on  the  following  morning,  I 
found  that  I  was  rubbing  my  hands. 

I  dressed  hurriedly,  and  my  sister  came  to  me  in  tears. 
She  was  rubbing  her  hands. 

We  hurried  to  the  King.  He  was  running  up  and  down, 
rubbing  his  hands. 

We  fled  from  him  and  ran  out  upon  the  palace  steps,  not 
knowing  where  next  to  go ;  and  as  we  stood  there,  hesitating, 
the  King's  brother  appeared  before  us,  and  spoke  with  ex- 
citement. 

"Beloved!"  he  cried.  uWe  love  each  other — what  more 
is  needed?  Quick,  it  is  not  yet  too  late!  Say  that  you  love 
me — let  me  hear  it  again!" 

"Ah,  yes,  I  do,"  said  my  sister,  and  he  threw  his  arm 
about  her  and  clasped  her  to  his  breast. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   201 

"Come!  I  will  save  you!"  he  cried.  "There  is  time,  if 
we  hurry.  Will  you  come  with  me  now?" 

My  sister  drew  back  a  little,  still  struggling  within  her- 
self; and  while  she  hesitated,  a  commotion  arose  at  the  gate, 
and  the  young  man  cried  out,  in  a  voice  full  of  despair : 

"It  is  too  late,  too  late!" 

Tush  and  His  Sister  are  Seized  by  the  Angry  Crowd 

At  the  gate  a  throng  of  people  were  pressing  in  with 
angry  shouts.  They  made  toward  us,  dancing  and  rubbing 
their  hands.  They  surrounded  us ;  they  crowded  upon  us  to 
suffocation;  the  young  man  and  myself  tried  in  vain  to  shield 
my  sister;  angry  hands  were  laid  upon  her  and  upon  myself, 
and  we  were  hustled  away  toward  the  gate. 

"Give  us  back  our  leaves !  Kill  them  both !  To  the 
square!"  shouted  the  mob;  and  thrusting  the  King's  brother 
aside  they  pulled  and  pushed  us  to  the  public  square,  and 
halted  us  beneath  the  vat  which  contained  all  my  wealth. 

A  sudden  outcry,  followed  by  silence,  drew  my  attention 
upward.  There  above  us,  on  the  rim  of  the  vat,  stood  the 
King's  Fool.  He  held  a  lighted  torch  aloft  in  his  hand. 

"Madmen!"  he  cried.  "I  am  ready  to  cure  you!  All 
alone!  Speak!  Shall  I  destroy  the  leaves?" 

"No,  no!"  shouted  the  crowd.    "Stop  him!    Stop  him!" 

"If  you  fire  the  leaves,  we  will  kill  these  two!"  shouted 
one  of  our  captors. 

"Oh !"  said  my  sister  at  my  side,  pale  with  terror.  "What 
shall  we  do?  Stop  him!  If  the  genie  would  only  come  and 
help  us  !  I  wish  the  genie  were  here  to  help  us !" 


202  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"The  time  has  come !"  cried  the  Fool.  "I  must  save  you ! 
Why  will  you  all  be  mad  ?  I  must  save  you  from  your  mad- 
ness !  In  with  the  torch  !" 

He  faced  about  toward  the  center  of  the  vat,  and  swung 
his  torch  as  if  about  to  toss  it  in;  but  at  that  instant  a  great 
wind  swept  across  the  square  with  a  roar,  such  a  blast  as  I 
had  never  in  my  life  known  before,  and  the  King's  Fool 
tottered  in  it  for  a  moment,  and  his  torch  went  out;  and  then, 
clutching  at  the  air,  he  was  blown  headlong  to  the  ground 
in  a  heap. 

"The  whirlwind!  The  whirlwind!"  shouted  the  crowd  in 
terror.  "Fly!  Fly  for  your  lives !" 

Far  off  across  the  housetops  appeared  a  yellow  cloud,  and 
a  saffron  gloom  overspread  the  city.  From  the  cloud  to  the 
ground  revolved  a  yellow  funnel,  as  of  dust-laden  wind;  and 
it  was  coming  toward  us  with  the  speed  of  lightning. 

The  crowd  dispersed  madly,  trampling  one  another, 
shrieking  and  cursing,  and  in  a  twinkling  they  were  gone.  I 
seized  my  sister  and  dragged  her  to  the  street  corner,  where 
I  opened  one  half  of  a  cellar  door  and  plunged  down  with 
her,  closing  the  door  over  us,  but  peeping  out  through  a 
crack.  We  were  just  in  time. 

The  Genie  in  the  Whirlwind 

The  whirling  funnel  of  wind  and  dust  swept  over  the 
square ;  and  in  the  forefront  of  it,  at  a  great  height,  flew  the 
genie,  his  great  mouth  open,  and  darts  of  fire  flickering 
around  his  face. 

The  square  was  empty,  save  for  the  crumpled  body  of  the 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   203 

King's  Fool,  lying  motionless  beside  the  vat  of  dead  leaves; 
and  as  I  gazed  at  him  where  he  lay,  I  saw,  moving  toward 
him  across  the  bare  pavement,  the  humped  figure  of  his 
little  monkey. 

The  genie,  far  above,  kept  just  ahead  of  the  whirlwind; 
the  yellow  funnel  whirled  after  him  directly  across  the  vat 
and  covered  it  and  passed;  and  as  it  passed,  all  the  dead 
leaves  surged  up  into  it  in  a  furious  gale,  so  that  it  was  dark- 
ened with  them;  and  the  next  moment  the  whirlwind  was 
gone,  and  the  square  lay  quiet  in  the  sunshine. 

"Come,  Paravaine!"  said  I,  and  pulled  my  sister  forth 
across  the  square. 

We  came  to  the  base  of  the  vat,  and  on  the  ground  beside 
it,  left  there  untouched  by  the  storm,  lay  the  King's  Fool  on 
his  side,  graver  than  he  had  ever  been  in  his  life;  and  hud- 
dled against  his  breast  sat  his  monkey,  shivering,  and  look- 
ing up  at  us  with  eyes  that  seemed  to  reproach  us. 

We  hurried  toward  the  city  gate.  Many  houses  were  in 
ruins,  and  the  streets  were  strewn  with  rubbish.  People  were 
running  busily  about,  gazing  intently  at  the  ground,  and 
now  and  then  one  would  stoop  and  pick  up  something.  I 
saw  what  it  was  they  were  doing;  they  were  searching  for 
dead  leaves,  scattered  by  the  whirlwind. 

"I  can't  go!"  said  my  sister,  weeping.  "I  must  see  him 
first !  Oh,  my  love,  my  love  !" 

"Too  late  now!"  I  cried.     "Too  late,  too  late!" 

I  pulled  her  onward,  knowing  that  death  awaited  us  in 
that  city;  and  we  came  to  the  plot  of  grass  where  we  had 
seen  the  sacred  tree.  It  was  gone,  and  in  the  place  where 


204  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

it  had  been  was  only  a  gaping  hole.  The  whirlwind  had 
passed  that  way.  On  the  ground  beside  the  hole  lay  the 
panther,  its  head  on  its  paws.  It  watched  us  with  sleepy 
eyes  as  we  fled  by. 

In  a  moment  we  had  reached  the  city  gate  and  passed 
out.  The  Guardian  was  standing  there,  his  face  clouded 
with  a  frown,  and  his  scimitar  raised. 

"Why  do  you  flee?"  said  he. 

"From  the  wrath  of  the  people !"  I  cried.    "Let  us  pass !" 

"You  cannot  pass,"  said  he.  His  scimitar  glittered  in  the 
sun. 

"But  we  repent!    We  repent!"  cried  my  sister. 

"Too  late,  too  late!"  said  the  Guardian.     "See!" 

He  pointed  upward,  and  afar  off  in  the  sky  appeared  a 
black  speck,  speeding  toward  us. 

"The  genie!"  I  cried;  and  I  had  no  sooner  said  it,  than 
the  earth  trembled,  and  before  us  on  the  ground  towered 
the  genie,  breathing  fire. 

"Save  us  from  him !"  I  cried,  turning  to  the  Guardian,  but 
he  was  gone.  We  were  alone  with  the  genie. 

The  Pulling  Off  of  the  Genie's  Ring 

"Off  with  the  ring!  That  will  send  him  away!"  I  cried 
to  my  sister,  and  she  tugged  at  the  ring  on  her  forefinger, 
to  pull  it  off;  but  it  came  unwillingly;  and  as  she  pulled,  her 
finger  lengthened;  she  tugged  harder,  and  as  the  ring  came 
her  finger  stretched  out  longer  and  longer;  and  when  the 
ring  was  off  and  dropped  on  the  ground,  the  first  finger  of 


The  genie  swung  him  back  and  forth  and  tossed  him  out  to  sea 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   205 

her  right  hand  was  more  than  a  foot  long, — a  black,  stiff 
rod,  hooked  at  the  end  like  a  poker. 

The  genie  stooped,  and  gathered  me  under  his  right  arm 
and  my  sister  under  his  left;  and  giving  a  stamp  upon  the 
ground  which  shook  the  earth  he  mounted  into  the  air.  .  .  . 

Far  out  over  the  Great  Sea,  as  the  sun  was  setting,  the 
genie  drew  downward  toward  an  island;  and  on  a  bluff  of 
this  island,  overlooking  a  cove  in  which  fishing  boats  lay 
moored,  he  alighted  and  set  us  on  our  feet.  Over  my  sister's 
head  and  back  he  passed  his  hand,  speaking  strange  words 
in  his  throat.  She  shriveled  before  my  eyes ;  her  face  became 
old  and  wrinkled  and  her  body  bent;  and  before  I  could 
speak  she  was  the  hideous  creature  I  had  seen  in  the  Fool's 
glass,  with  a  forefinger  like  the  poker  of  a  ragpicker. 

"Paravaine!"  I  cried;  but  the  genie  turned  her  away  to- 
ward a  village  which  showed  itself  at  the  back  of  the  cove, 
and  sent  her  off  in  that  direction;  and  when  she  had  gone,  he 
picked  me  up  in  his  mighty  hands,  and  carrying  me  to  the 
further  edge  of  the  bluff  where  it  looked  down  on  the  rolling 
surf,  he  swung  me  back  and  forth  three  or  four  times  and 
tossed  me  out  to  sea. 

I  sank  into  the  depths;  I  rose  to  the  surface;  and  as  my 
head  came  up  I  looked  for  the  genie.  Far  up  in  the  evening 
sky  flew  what  seemed  a  tiny,  black  arrow.  I  cried  aloud; 
and  instead  of  a  shriek  there  came  from  my  throat  a  bark. 
It  was  the  bark  of  a  seal. 


THE  SIXTH  NIGHT 

THE  ENCHANTED  HIGHWAYMAN 

71  J^ORTIMER  the  Executioner,    very  grand  and  un- 

/yt      comfortable  in  his  new  suit,  placed  a  chair  for  the 

Queen  before  Solaria's  worktable,  and  the  old 

tailor  having  seated  himself  cross-legged  on  the  table,  the 

entire  company  sat  down  in  a  row,  facing  him. 

There  were  first  the  Executioner,  with  the  tiny  Encour> 
ager  on  his  shoulder;  then  Bodkin;  then  Bojohn;  then  his 
mother,  the  Princess  Dorobel,  and  his  father,  Prince  Bilbo; 
and  last,  his  grandmother,  the  Queen. 

"Now  then,"  said  Bojohn,  "I  hope  we're  going  to  hear 
the  story  of  Montesango's  Cave  at  last." 

"If  it  please  your  majesty,"  began  Solario,  addressing  the 

206 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    207 

Queen, — but  at  this  moment  there  came  a  loud  knock  at 
the  door. 

Mortimer  the  Executioner  hastened  to  open  it,  and  there 
in  the  doorway  stood  the  King  himself.  Solaria  sprang 
down  from  his  table,  and  all  the  others  rose. 

"Ah!  your  majesty!"  cried  Solario,  bowing  profoundly. 
"This  is  indeed  an  honor/" 

"I  was  told  I  would  find  you  here,"  said  the  King.  "It 
seems  that  my  entire  family  deserts  me  in  the  evening,  and 
I  am  obliged  to  climb  the  worst  stairs  in  the  castle  to — i 
But  of  course  if  you  find  my  society  too — " 

"My  dear!"  said  the  Queen.  "We  have  been  listening 
to  Solaria's  stories,  and  you  were  so  taken  up  with  your 
chess  that  we  thought  you  wouldn't  care  to — " 

'Why  not?"  said  the  King.  "But  of  course  if  you  don't 
want  me  to  hear  the  stories,  I'll — " 

"Sit  down,  grandfather!"  cried  Bojohn.  "He's  just  go- 
ing to  begin." 

"Do  sit  down,  my  dear,"  said  the  Queen.  "Don't  you 
remember  the  story  he  told  us  the  first  night?" 

"Hum!  Ha!  I'm  all  out  of  breath  with  those  plaguey 
stairs.  Something  about  a  button,  wasn't  it?" 

"Perhaps,"  said  Prince  Bilbo,  "he'll  tell  us  to-night  how 
the  magic  doublet  came  to  be — " 

"Well"  said  the  King,  "if  it  isn't  a  long  story —  Is  it 
a  long  story?" 

"No,  no,  your  majesty  "  said  Solario,  bowing  again,  "it  is 
quite  short." 

"Hum!"  said  the  King.     "If  you're  sure  it's  not  a  long 


208  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

story — Why  don't  you  begin?"  and  he  sat  down  in  the  Exe- 
cutioner's chair. 

Solario  took  his  place  cross-legged  on  the  table  again,  and 
the  others  resumed  their  seats  before  him, — all  except  the 
Executioner,  who  stood,  with  the  Encourager  on  his 
shoulder,  behind  the  King. 

"My  dear,"  said  the  Queen,  <(did  you  give  the  orders  for 
locking  the  castle  for  the  night?" 

"I  believe  I  usually  attend  to  that"  said  the  King.  "So- 
lario, proceed." 

"If  it  is  your  pleasure,"  said  Solario,  fingering  his  shears, 
"I  will  now  relate  to  you  the  story  concerning  the  magic 
doublet,  as  it  was  told  to  the  Black  Prince  by  his  father  the 
King  of  Wen,  and  by  the  Black  Prince  to  me.  The  King  of 
Wen,  having  directed  his  son  regarding  his  mission  to  the 
City  of  Oogh,  placed  the  doublet  in  his  son's  left  hand,  and 
thus  commenced  what  I  may  call 

"THE  STORY  OF  THE  ENCHANTED  HIGHWAYMAN." 

"/  thought"  interrupted  Bojohn,  "you  were  going  to  tell 
us  the  story  of  the  magic  doublet." 

"I  am  about  to  do  so,"  said  Solario.  "As  I  was  saying, 
the  King  of  Wen,  placing  the  magic  doublet  in  his  son's  left 
hand,  thus  commenced 

"THE  STORY  OF  THE  ENCHANTED  HIGHWAYMAN." 

When  I  was  a  young  man  (said  the  King  of  Wen),  I  left 
my  father's  castle  one  morning  for  a  day's  hunting  in  the 
forest.  Late  in  the  afternoon  it  chanced  that  I  had  wan- 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   209 

dered  away  from  my  attendants,  and  being  warm  and  weary 
I  threw  myself  down  upon  the  moss  to  rest.  I  had  lain 
there  but  a  moment  when  I  saw,  not  far  off  among  the  trees, 
a  fine  buck,  the  only  game  I  had  come  upon  that  day.  I 
crept  cautiously  in  his  direction,  and  soon  came  within  easy 
bowshot  of  him;  but  just  as  I  was  fitting  my  arrow  to  the 
string  he  tossed  his  head  and  trotted  off  into  the  forest  and 
disappeared. 

I  made  off  after  him  as  fast  as  I  could,  marking  his  trail 
by  a  broken  branch  here  and  there  and  an  occasional  hoof- 
print  in  the  damp  earth,  and  presently  I  found  myself  deep 
in  a  considerable  thicket  of  underwood,  and  from  this  thicket 
I  came  out,  to  my  surprise,  upon  a  forest  road. 

A  Voice  from  Nowhere  Bids  the  Prince  Stop 

I  stood  for  a  moment  looking  up  and  down  curiously. 
The  deer  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  The  road  was  arched 
in  a  charming  manner  by  the  branches  of  the  trees,  and  at  no 
great  distance  lost  itself  in  the  shadowy  forest.  I  wondered 
that  I  had  never  heard  of  this  road  before,  and  after  ponder- 
ing this  for  a  moment  I  began  to  cross  the  road,  looking 
carefully  for  the  deer's  tracks  in  the  dust.  I  saw  no  trace 
of  him,  and  I  was  about  to  push  into  the  forest  on  the  other 
side,  when  suddenly  a  voice,  a  low  but  clear  voice,  said  dis- 
tinctly in  my  ear,  "Stop !" 

I  looked  about  me,  but  I  could  see  no  one.  There  was 
positively  no  living  creature  near  me, — unless  I  except  a 
wasp  which  at  the  moment  was  flying  about  my  head,  and 
which  I  struck  away  with  my  hand. 


2io  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

I  walked  down  the  road  some  twenty  paces,  peering  about 
for  the  person  who  had  spoken,  and  becoming  more  and 
more  perplexed;  and  as  I  was  about  to  enter  the  forest  the 
same  voice,  still  low  but  quite  distinct,  spoke  again  close 
into  my  ear:  "Stop!" 

I  stopped  in  bewilderment.  The  forest  was  silent  as  the 
sky;  no  living  creature,  not  even  a  bird,  could  I  see  any- 
where; there  was  nothing; — nothing,  indeed,  except  the  wasp 
which  was  still  flying  about  my  head  and  which  now  began  to 
annoy  me  exceedingly. 

I  went  on  again,  striking  out  at  the  wasp,  and  in  a  moment 
(I  assure  you  I  began  to  doubt  my  senses),  the  same  voice 
spoke  again,  this  time  close  into  my  left  ear. 

"Stop!  Just  a  moment!"  it  said.  "Look,  if  you  please! 
On  your  left  shoulder  !" 

I  craned  my  neck  about,  and  there  was  nothing  on  my  left 
shoulder  except  the  wasp.  The  wasp  was  there,  indeed,  and 
I  made  as  if  to  brush  him  off;  but  the  voice  said,  "Don't, 
if  you  please !"  and  I  stayed  my  hand. 

You  may  imagine  that  I  was  more  astonished  than  ever. 
I  gazed  at  the  wasp  intently,  and  as  I  did  so  the  voice  began 
to  murmur,  in  a  kind  of  rapid,  buzzing  drone,  into  my  left 
ear. 

"Mercy  on  us!"  I  cried.     "It's  the  wasp  that's  talking!" 

It  was  true,  beyond  a  doubt.  "Yes !"  said  the  voice. 
"Please  listen !  If  you'd  only  be  so  good — I  really  wish  you 
would!" 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    211 

The  Prince  Listens  to  a  Curious  Discourse 

I  stood  perfectly  still  in  the  roadway,  and  I  know  that 
my  mouth  hung  open  as  I  listened.  The  wasp  buzzed  into 
my  ear  a  kind  of  rapid,  droning  song,  so  low  that  I  had  to 
strain  my  attention  a  little  to  catch  it  all,  and  these  were 
the  words  I  heard : 

"I  know  it's  rude  to  speak  to  you,  it's  something  I  but  seldom  do, 
to  speak  before  I'm  spoken  to, 

Or  buttonhole  a  stranger; 

Excuse  me  if  I  do  not  pause  to  think  just  now  of  social  laws,  I  can 
not  spare  the  time,  because 

I'm  in  the  gravest  danger; 

In  gravest  danger,  yes,  it's  true,  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  what  I'll 
do,  I'll  positively  die  if  you 

Refuse  me  your  assistance; 

Come,   follow  me  without  delay,   I  pray  you   do  not  say  me  nay, 
it's  life  or  death, — and   anyway 

It's  scarcely  any  distance. 

"My  lot   is  sad    in   the  extreme,    I    really   am   not   what   I   seem, 
I  once  was  held  in  high  esteem 

By  every  friend  and  neighbor: 

A  man  entirely  free  of  guile,  who  lived  but  in  his  children's  smile, 
and  kept  them  all  in  modest  style 

By  hard  and  patient  labor, 

A  man  of  pleasing  manners  who,  whatever  other  men  might  do, 
spoke  seldom  unless  spoken  to, 

A  practice  much  commended ; 

My  trade  in  such  a  way  I  plied  upon  the  highway  far  and  wide 
(I  say  it  with  a  modest  pride) 

I  scarcely  once  offended. 


212  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"It  used  to  be  my  pleasant  way   (it  always  made  my  work  seem 
play)  to  take  the  air  from  day  to  day, — 

Unless,  of  course,  'twas  raining, — 

Upon  the  road  to  watch  and  wait  from  early  morn  to  rather  late, 
but  always  coming  home  by  eight 

(Such  was  my  early  training), 

I  used  to  watch  and  wait,   I  say,  and  when  a  trav'ler  came  my 
way,  which  happened  every  other  day 

Unless  too  cold  or  sunny, 

I  never  spoke  a  word,   not   I,   I   merely  breathed   a  patient  sigh, 
and  held  my  trusty  blade  on  high 

And  took  from  him  his  money. 

"  'Twas  thus  I  kept  my  children  ten,   a  decent,   worthy  citizen, 
the  happiest  of  mortal  men 

My  humble  sphere  adorning, 

The  father  of  ten  daughters  fair  who  needed  tons  of   clothes  to 
wear,  and  that  was  why  I  took  the  air 

Upon  the  road  each  morning, 

But  oh,   alas   for  them  and   me,   it's  over  now,   as  you   may  see, 
and  you  are  incontestably 

Our  only  hope  remaining; 

And  all  our  truly  dreadful  plight  is  just  because  one  rainy  night 
I  simply  for  a  moment  quite 

Forgot  my  early  training. 

'  'Twas  rainy  and  'twas  after  eight,  I   knew  that  I  was  out  too 
late,  but  when  your  trade's  in  such  a  state 

You  hardly  know  what  cash  is, 

You  cannot  stop  because  you  get  your  feet  all  muddy,  cold  and  wet, 
I  knew  I  should  be  ill,  and  yet, — 

My  children  needed  sashes. 

I  shivered  with  the  wet  and  cold,  I  counted  twenty  times  all  told 
I'd  meant  to  have  my  shoes  half-soled 

And  still  they'd  not  been  cobbled, 


"I  held  my  trusty  blade  on  high 
And  took  from  him  his  money" 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET    213 

Til  certainly,'  I  thought,  'be  sick,' — and  then  from  out  the  dark- 
ness thick  an  ancient  woman  with  a  stick 
In  fearsome  silence  hobbled. 

"She  was  an   ancient,   crooked   crone,   an   ugly  thing  of  skin   and 
bone,  she  passed  me  silent  as  a  stone 

(I    thought   it  rather   funny), 

But  I  could  hear  my  children  cry,  'Oh,  buy  us  ribbons,  father,  buy,' 
and  stopping  her,  my  blade  on  high, 

I  shouted,  'Stand!     Your  money!' 

Ah,  that  was  just  where  I  did  make  a  most  unfortunate  mistake, 
for  she  with  mirth  began  to  shake 

(It  made  my  blood  run  colder), 

And  up  she  raised  her  crooked  staff,   she  gave   a  most  unearthly 
laugh,  a  thing  I  did  not  like  by  half, 

And  touched  me  on  the  shoulder. 

"She  stood,  she  looked  me  through  and  through,  she  said  not  even 
'How  d'ye  do,'  she  merely  gave  a  laugh  or  two, 

And  munched  her  gums  together: 

A  witch,  a  sorceress  of  the  wood!     I  nearly  fainted  where  I  stood, 
I  really  truly  think  you  could 

Have  felled  me  with  a  feather. 

A  witch,  as  sure,  as  sure  could  be!     You  see  what  she  has  done  to 
me!     And  all  because  I  carelessly 

Forgot  my  early  training. 

From  which  you  learn  this  lesson   true,  that  it  will  never,  never 
do  to  speak  before  you're  spoken   to 

Or  stay  out  when  it's  raining." 

The  voice  stopped,  and  the  wasp  flew  off,  directly  before 
my  nose,  as  if  leading  me  away. 

"Why,  dear  me!"  interrupted  the  Queen.  "I  believe  this 
wasp  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  Highwayman." 


214  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"What  I  don't  understand  is,"  said  the  King,  "how  a 
Highwayman  could  have  learned  to  make  up  verses." 

"In  the  Forest  of  Wen,  your  majesty"  said  Solaria,  "the 
Highwaymen  always  talked  in  that  fashion.  It  was  their 
regular  custom.  I  am  told  that  no  Highwayman  could  get 
his  certificate  until  he  had  passed  an  examination  in  arith- 
metic, swordplay,  and  composition;  and  of  course  composi- 
tion included  verse  making." 

"Well,"  said  the  King,  "I  don't  see  what  that  had  to  do 
with  making  a  good  Highwayman  of  him;  but  then  I  don't 
pretend  to  understand  these  notions  about  education.  As 
far  as  I'm  concerned,  if  I  had  to  pass  an  examination  in 
arithmetic  in  order  to  be  a  King,  I'd  simply  have  to  look 
about  for  something  else  to  do.  I  never  could  see  the  sense 
in  teaching  a  King  arithmetic,  and  I  don't  see  the  sense  in 
teaching  a  Highwayman  how  to  make  verses.  I  know  it's 
done  in  some  places;  it's  gotten  to  be  quite  the  thing,  I  un- 
derstand that  perfectly  well;  but  I  don't  see  any  sense  in  it." 

"My  dear,"  said  the  Queen,  "you  mustn't  forget  that  a 
Highwayman  has  to  know  a  great  deal  more  than  a  King. 
It's  so  very  much  harder  to  be  a  good  Highwayman.  But  I 
don't  think  I  should  like  to  be  married  to  one." 

"This  one  was  a  widower,  evidently,"  said  the  King.  "I 
know  I  shouldn't  like  to  be  a  widower  with  ten  daughters  on 
my  hands.  I  don't  see  how  any  human  being  could  keep  ten 
daughters  in  ribbons  and — " 

"When  Dorobel  was  little,"  said  the  Queen,  "I  always 
had  the  most  terrible  time  to  make  her  remember  that  she 
mustn't  speak  until  she  was  spoken  to.  I  don't  wonder  the 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   215 

poor  man  forgot  it,  when  he  was  so  worried  about  sashes 
for  his  dear  children, — and  out  so  late  at  night,  and  in  the 
rain,  tool" 

"Why  don't  you  let  the  man  go  on  with  his  story?"  said 
the  King.  "We'll  never  get  to  bed  at  this  rate.  Solario,  be 
kind  enough  to  proceed." 

The  wasp  flew  off  (said  the  King  of  Wen),  directly  be- 
fore my  nose,  as  if  leading  me  away;  and  I  followed  him 
down  the  road. 

We  had  gone  about  a  mile,  when  the  wasp  turned  off  into 
the  forest.  I  hesitated  a  moment,  but  I  was  curious  to 
know  what  this  unfortunate  Highwayman  intended,  and  I 
pushed  on  after  him  into  a  portion  of  the  forest  which  was 
wilder  and  gloomier  than  any  I  had  yet  seen.  The  branches 
of  the  trees  hung  low,  and  the  ground  was  thick  with  under- 
brush; I  had  to  part  the  bushes  and  branches  with  my  hands 
in  order  to  get  through. 

The  wasp  flew  within  a  foot  of  my  nose,  and  I  kept  on 
after  him  thus  for  more  than  half  an  hour.  He  seemed  to 
know  the  way,  but  for  my  part  I  began  to  wonder  whether 
I  should  ever  be  able  to  find  my  way  back.  Suddenly  he  flew 
off,  and  I  saw  him  no  more. 

The  Prince,  Alone  in  the  Forest,  Hears  the  Bark  of  a  Dog 

I  was  at  this  moment  in  an  uncommonly  thick  part  of 
the  forest.  The  trees  were  perhaps  less  close,  but  the 
underbrush  was  taller;  so  tall  that  I  could  not  see  through. 
I  stopped  for  a  moment,  and  listened.  All  was  still.  Not  a 
bird  twittered  among  the  leaves  overhead.  I  was  vexed 


216  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

that  I  had  allowed  myself  to  be  drawn  upon  such  a  wild- 
goose  chase,  and  I  decided  that  I  had  better  begin  to  make 
my  way  back  to  the  road;  and  as  I  was  considering  this,  I 
heard  the  bark  of  a  dog. 

It  was  a  single,  sharp  bark,  and  it  stopped  abruptly,  as 
if  a  hand  had  been  clapped  over  the  animal's  mouth.  I 
listened  again,  but  it  came  no  more.  "What  should  a  dog 
be  doing  here?"  I  thought;  and  full  of  curiosity  I  pushed 
on  through  the  underbrush  in  the  direction  of  the  sound. 
In  a  moment  I  had  broken  through  the  tanglewood,  and  I 
was  standing  at  the  edge  of  a  clearing,  in  the  midst  of  which 
was  a  little  house. 

It  was  a  very  tiny  house  indeed, — not  much  more,  in  fact, 
than  a  hut.  Its  door  was  closed,  and  the  window  beside  the 
door  was  barred  with  shutters.  I  listened  intently,  thinking 
to  hear  again  the  bark  of  a  dog,  but  I  heard  nothing.  Evi- 
dently the  place  was  deserted. 

I  crossed  the  open  space  before  the  door,  and  as  I  did  so 
I  noticed,  clinging  to  the  trunk  and  lower  branches  of  a 
tree  at  the  side  of  the  clearing,  what  appeared  to  be  a  wasp's 
nest;  but  an  enormous  wasp's  nest,  big  enough,  in  all  con- 
science, to  contain  a  man  if  need  be;  a  wasp's  nest  greater 
than  I  should  have  thought  could  exist  in  the  world.  I 
looked  at  it  curiously,  and  coming  nearer  I  saw,  crawling 
over  it,  a  number  of  wasps.  I  counted  them,  and  there 
were  eleven. 

They  arose  with  one  accord  and  flew  in  great  agitation 
about  my  head;  and  at  the  same  time  I  heard  a  voice  from 
inside  the  wasp's  nest, — the  voice  of  a  human  being,  but  not 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   217 

the  one  I  had  already  heard;  a  voice  much  stronger  and 
louder.  I  put  my  ear  against  the  wasp's  nest,  and  from 
within  came  these  words : 

"Don't  speak  before  you're  spoken  to!" 

"Who  is  it?"  I  said.     "Where  are  you?" 

"Beware  the  dog!"  said  the  voice  again. 

"But  who — what — ?"     I  began. 

The  Prisoner  Inside  the  Wasp's  Nest 

"I  can't  get  out !  I'm  imprisoned  inside  the  wasp's  nest ! 
Do  as  you're  bid,  and  don't  speak  before  you're  spoken  to. 
Beware  the  dog!" 

At  this  moment  I  heard  the  click  of  a  latch,  and  I  turned 
round  in  time  to  see  the  door  of  the  hut  open. 

In  the  doorway  was  standing  an  old  woman,  and  by  her 
side  a  dog.  She  was  a  hideous  old  crone,  wrinkled  and 
bent,  with  little,  beady  eyes  and  a  hooked  nose  and  no 
teeth.  She  stood  there  munching  her  gums  and  blinking  her 
eyes  at  me,  and  I  noticed  that  she  wore  about  her  neck  a 
string  of  what  looked  like  ivory  buttons,  ten  of  them, 
white  and  flat. 

With  her  left  hand  she  leaned  on  a  crooked  stick,  and 
with  her  right  hand  she  held,  by  a  leather  thong,  the 
biggest  and  fiercest-looking  dog  I  had  ever  seen  in  my  life. 
His  head  came  nearly  to  the  old  woman's  shoulder.  He  was 
chocolate  brown  in  color,  and  his  skin  was  entirely  naked 
of  hair,  except  for  a  patch  of  long  wiry  hair  which  fringed 
his  neck.  He  bared  his  sharp,  white  teeth  at  me  and  growled. 
I  felt  decidedly  uneasy. 


218  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

The  eleven  wasps  were  flying  about  my  head  in  violent 
agitation.  The  old  woman  said  nothing,  but  continued  to 
blink  at  me  and  munch  her  gums.  Suddenly  the  dog  barked, 
and  without  a  word  the  old  woman  flung  the  thong  from 
her  hand.  The  dog  gave  a  bound  toward  me  and  crouched 
for  a  spring,  growling  and  bristling.  In  another  instant  I 
knew  that  I  would  be  torn  to  pieces.  I  started  back  and 
cried  out  in  alarm. 

"Call  him  off !"  I  shouted.    "Stop  him !    Call  him  off  I" 

At  these  words,  a  groan  came  from  inside  the  wasp's  nest. 
At  the  same  time  one  of  the  eleven  wasps,  which  were  flying 
directly  before  my  face,  dropped  to  the  ground  at  my  feet 
as  if  dead.  I  realized  that  I  had  spoken  before  being  spoken 
to,  and  one  of  the  wasps — one  of  the  Highwayman's  daught- 
ers, in  fact, — had  suffered  for  my  error.  But  the  worst  con- 
sequence was  now  to  come. 

The  old  woman  shook  her  stick  and  danced  up  and  down 
in  hideous  glee. 

"He's  spoken !"  she  cried.  "Ha !  ha !  Spoken  before  he 
was  spoken  to !  He's  done  for  himself  now !  At  him,  dog, 
he's  helpless!  Seize  him,  dog,  destroy  him!" 

The  Dog  Leaps  Upon  Him  to  Devour  Him 

Before  I  could  turn,  the  dog  was  upon  me.  No  man  on 
earth  could  have  stood  up  under  such  an  attack.  With  one 
leap  he  was  upon  my  breast,  and  bore  me  to  the  ground; 
and  as  I  fell  his  sharp  teeth  sank  into  my  shoulder,  and  I 
nearly  fainted  with  pain  and  terror. 

"A  hair  of  the  dog  that  bit  you !"    It  was  the  voice  from 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   219 

within  the  wasp's  nest,  and  it  was  crying:  "A  hair  of  the 
dog  that  bit  you !" 

My  senses  were  slipping  away,  and  I  hardly  knew  what  I 
did;  but  somehow  or  other  I  put  my  hand  on  the  beast's 
neck,  and  plucked  from  it  a  long  hair;  and  as  I  did  so  the 
dog  bounded  away  from  me  and  stood  cowering  and  quiver- 
ing, as  if  in  fear. 

"At  him!"  screamed  the  witch — for  it  was  a  witch,  be- 
yond a  doubt;  and  she  rushed  upon  the  dog  and  began  to 
beat  him  violently  with  her  stick.  "At  him  again!"  she 
screamed,  but  to  my  amazement  the  dog  turned  upon  her, 
snarling;  and  at  that  moment  the  voice  came  again  from 
the  wasp's  nest,  and  it  cried: 

"A  ring  of  the  hair !  Make  a  ring  of  the  hair  for  your 
finger!" 

I  sat  up  and  quickly  wound  about  my  finger,  in  a  ring, 
the  hair  which  I  had  plucked  from  the  dog's  neck.  The 
effect  of  this  was  startling.  The  witch  shrieked,  plainly  in 
terror,  and  sprang  away  from  the  dog;  and  the  brute  came 
to  me  and  cringed  before  me  on  the  ground  and  whined;  and 
behold,  all  the  pain  was  gone  from  my  shoulder. 

"Command  him  to  be  himself  again!"  cried  the  voice 
from  the  wasp's  nest. 

"Be  yourself  again!"  I  cried,  not  knowing  what  I  said. 

The  Prince,  Sitting  on  the  Ground,  Looks  Up  at  a  Genie 

Instantly,  in  the  flash  of  an  eye,  the  dog  was  gone;  and 
in  his  place  stood,  towering  above  me  full  seven  yards  or 
more,  a  monstrous  creature  in  the  shape  of  a,  man,  chocolate 


220  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

brown  in  color,  baldheaded  except  for  a  fringe  of  long  hair 
at  the  base  of  his  skull,  and  bare  except  for  a  cloth  twisted 
about  his  middle,  in  which  hung  a  gleaming  scimitar.  It  was 
a  genie.  He  was  panting  with  anger  or  some  other  strong 
emotion,  and  as  he  panted  jets  of  fire  shot  forth  from  his 
nostrils.  His  mighty  chest  heaved,  and  I  shrank  back  in 
alarm;  but  he  spread  out  his  hands  and  bowed  low  before 
me.  I  remembered  the  ring  of  hair  on  my  finger,  and  grew 
bolder. 

The  witch  was  creeping  quietly  away,  stick  in  hand,  to- 
ward the  door  of  her  hut;  but  as  she  reached  it  the  genie 
stooped  and  caught  her  in  his  hand  and  held  her  fast.  I 
sprang  to  my  feet. 

"Set  free  your  victims !"  I  cried  to  her.  "The  wasps  and 
the  prisoner  inside  the  nest !  Release  them !  or  by  the  power 
of  the  genie's  hair,  I  will  command  him  to  destroy  you !" 

She  kicked  and  squirmed  and  shrieked,  but  all  in  vain. 
There  was  no  escaping  from  that  terrible  grasp.  She  grew 
quiet,  and  began  to  mutter  to  herself.  "I  will  count  ten,"  I 
cried,  "and  if  at  the  tenth — "  But  she  did  not  wait  for 
me  to  count.  With  one  look  up  at  the  genie's  face  she  waved 
her  crooked  stick  in  the  air  and  began  to  pour  out  strange 
words,  and  then,  giving  a  despairing  cry,  she  let  the  stick 
fall  to  the  ground;  and  as  it  touched  the  ground,  there  came 
from  the  wasp's  nest — I  assure  you  it  was  an  extraordinary 
sight — I  scarcely  know  how  to  tell  you,  it  all  happened  so 
quickly — 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET  221 

The  One-Armed  Sorcerer  Appears  from  Within  the  Wasp's 

Nest 

Well,  the  wasp's  nest  opened  from  top  to  bottom,  and 
inside  it  was  sitting  a  young  man,  who  leaped  down  with  a 
laugh  and  stood  before  me,  bowing.  I  noticed  that  he  had 
but  one  arm,  the  left;  his  eyes  were  blue,  and  his  skin 
was  fair  and  rosy;  and  he  wore  a  long  blue  gown  spangled 
with  silver  stars. 

The  Highwayman  and  Nine  of  His  Daughters  Appear  in 
Proper  Person 

Almost  at  the  same  instant  there  were  standing  before  me 
nine  young  maidens,  all  of  extraordinary  beauty;  and  in 
their  midst  an  elderly  man  with  a  gray  beard  and  a  long 
thin  face,  and  spindly  legs.  The  nine  maidens  were  gazing 
at  an  object  on  the  ground,  and  the  elderly  man  looked  down 
at  it  also,  and  they  all  began  to  wring  their  hands  together 
and  moan. 

uOh  I"  said  the  elderly  man,  sniffling, — 

"Just  see  what  he  has  gone  and  done,  he  can't  deny  it,  he's  the 
one,  he  ought  to  hide  his  head  where  none 

Could  ever  look  upon  it, 

He  knew,  he  did,  he  surely  knew,  I  told  him  it  would  never  do 
to  speak  before  you're  spoken  to, 

And  now  he's  gone  and  done  it." 

"I  warned  him,"  said  the  one-armed  young  man,  "but 
he  was  frightened,  and  he  forgot." 


222  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

"Oh,  yes,"  saicl  the  elderly  man,  wiping  his  tears  away 
with  the  back  of  his  hand, — 

"Oh,  yes,  it's  well  enough  to  say  it  slipped  his  mind  a  bit  to-day 
and  in  an  absent  sort  of  way 

He  slew  my  darling  daughter; 

But  that  will  hardly,  hardly  do,  I  really  can't  agree  with  you,  it's 
simply  from  my  point  of  view 

A  case  of  plain  manslaughter." 

"Oh,  sister!  sister!"  cried  the  nine  maidens.  "Isn't  it 
terrible?  It's  too  terrible!  It  is  terrible,  isn't  it?" 

"Let  me  go !"  screamed  the  witch,  struggling  in  the  hand 
of  the  genie. 

He  Sees  the  Highwayman's  Tenth  Daughter 

I  pushed  into  the  group  around  the  elderly  Highwayman, 
and  there  at  his  feet  I  saw  what  made  my  heart  stand  still 
with  grief  and  remorse.  On  the  ground  was  lying  a  maiden, 
far  lovelier  than  any  of  the  others;  and  she  was  dead. 
Her  eyes  were  closed,  her  face  was  pale,  she  did  not  breathe ; 
and  her  hair  lay  about  her  like  a  shower  of  gold.  Alas, 
that  my  carelessness  had  brought  her  to  this  sorrowful  end ! 
If  she  had  only  lived!  How  I  should  have  rejoiced  to  be 
her  friend,  and  in  the  course  of  time,  perhaps,  persuade 
her  to  smile  upon  me — Alas!  alas!  At  that  moment,  if  she 
could  but  have  cast  one  look  upon  me,  I  would  have  laid  at 
her  feet  all  that  I — 

I  knelt  beside  her  and  took  her  cold  hand  in  mine.  I 
stooped  over  her,  and  in  an  excess  of  pity,  and  of  more,  far 
more  than  pity,  I  kissed  her  softly  on  the  lips. 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET  223 

Oh,  wonderful!  Her  eyelids  quivered.  A  faint  flush 
came  into  her  cheeks.  Her  eyes  opened,  and  she  looked 
straight  into  my  own.  She  smiled,  and  it  was  like  the 
evening  sky  after  rain.  I  put  my  arm  beneath  her  shoulder, 
and  helped  her  to  stand  up.  She  rubbed  her  eyes  and  swayed 
a  little,  and  I  kept  my  arm  about  her.  We  gazed  at  each 
other,  smiling. 

"Is  it—?"  said  she. 

"It  is,  beloved!"  I  cried,  and  folded  her,  unresisting,  to 
my  heart. 

"Oh,  isn't  it  just  too  perfectly  sweet?"  cried  her  nine 
sisters,  clapping  their  hands  and  laughing  merrily,  all  to- 
gether. "It  is  sweet,  isn't  it?  It's  love  at  first  sight!  It's 
just  the  sweetest  thing  ever!  Isn't  it  just  too  sweet  for 
anything,  though?" 

But  while  they  were  still  running  on  in  this  fashion,  and 
the  elderly  Highwayman  was  cheering  faintly  and  the  one- 
armed  young  man  was  cheering  lustily,  a  loud  roar  came 
from  the  genie,  and  we  saw  that  the  witch  had  slipped  from 
his  grasp  and  was  even  now  dashing  in  at  the  door  of  the 
hut.  She  shut  it  behind  her  with  a  bang,  and  the  one- 
armed  youth  pounded  against  it  in  vain. 

"The  stolen  hair!"  he  cried.  "The  genie's  hair  which 
she  stole  from  me!  I  must  get  it  back!  Don't  let  her 
get  away!" 

The  Genie  Breathes  Fire  Upon  the  Witch's  Hut 

The  genie  opened  his  great  mouth  and  roared  with  anger; 
then  he  stooped  down  over  the  hut,  and  I  saw  that  he  was 


224  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

breathing  fire  upon  the  roof  from  his  nostrils;  and  as  the 
sparks  caught  in  the  dry  thatch,  he  began  to  walk  around 
the  hut,  bending  and  breathing  fire  upon  its  roof  from  place 
to  place.  In  a  few  moments  it  was  ablaze  from  end  to  end; 
the  walls  caught;  and  as  I  held  my  fair  lady  trembling  close 
beside  me,  the  house  arose  in  flames,  crackling  and  roaring, 
and  showering  sparks  upward  into  the  twilight  sky. 

"Oh!"  said  my  fair  one,  clinging  to  my  arm.  "The  poor 
witch !  Save  her !  She  will  be  burned  to  death !"  But  the 
genie's  thunderous  laugh  was  her  only  answer. 

We  watched  until  the  fire  was  out,  and  there  remained 
only  a  heap  of  smoking  ashes;  and  the  witch  was  gone. 

"Oh,  the  poor  thing!"  said  my  beautiful  lady. 

"Isn't  it  terrible?"  said  her  nine  sisters,  among  them- 
selves. "It's  just  too  terrible  for  anything!  It  is  terrible, 
isn't  it?  It's  simply  terrible,  it  is,  isn't  it?" 

The  one-armed  youth  stepped  up  to  the  ruin  and  appeared 
to  be  looking  among  the  ashes  near  what  was  once  the  door. 
He  looked  for  a  long  time,  and  then  he  suddenly  straight- 
ened up  and  cried,  "Ah!" 

He  came  toward  us,  and  he  was  holding  up  in  his  hand 
what  seemed  to  be  a  necklace. 

"See !"  he  said,  and  I  saw  that  it  was  a  string  of  but- 
tons, of  large  flat  buttons,  eleven  of  them,  threaded  on 
what  seemed  to  be  a  hair;  the  same  I  had  seen  about  the 
witch's  neck. 

"It  is  the  genie's  hair,"  said  the  young  man,  "the  same 
that  she  stole  from  me;  and  it  was  this  hair  which  gave 
her  power  to  turn  my  genie  to  a  dog  and  imprison  me  in 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET  225 

the  wasp's  nest.    Now  let  me  see  these  buttons;  I  must  look 
at  them  with  care." 

He  examined  each  one  minutely;  and  when  he  had  ex- 
amined them  all,  he  placed  his  finger  on  his  lips  and  smiled 
knowingly;  and  while  I  held  the  hair  he  broke  it  and  slipped 
off  the  eleventh  button,  inviting  me  to  look  at  it  closely.  I 
looked  and  saw  upon  it,  near  the  rim,  a  crooked  black  line, 
much  like  the  imprint  of  a  tiny,  crooked  stick. 

The  One-Armed  Sorcerer  Performs   Upon  a  Button 

He  threw  the  button  upon  the  ground,  laughing,  and  took 
from  within  his  gown  a  leather  pouch,  from  which  he 
sprinkled  upon  the  button  a  black  powder;  and  then  he 
began  to  speak,  in  a  loud  voice,  words  which  I  could  not 
understand,  in  the  midst  of  which  he  picked  up  the  button, 
now  crusted  with  black;  and  still  repeating  his  strange 
words,  he  swung  his  arm,  and  with  a  loud  cry  flung  the 
button  into  the  branches  of  the  nearest  tree;  and  there, 
hanging  on  to  a  branch  of  the  tree,  trying  desperately  to 
keep  from  toppling  off,  was  the  old  witch  herself. 

Instantly  the  young  man  took  the  threaded  buttons  from 
me  and  slipped  them  off  the  hair;  he  wound  the  hair  about 
his  finger  and  cried, — 

"Off  with  her!  Off  with  her  to  the  Forest  Kingdom, 
far  from  here,  and  see  that  she  never  comes  back  again! 
Off  with  her,  I  say,  to  the  Kingdom  of  the  Great  Forest!" 

At  these  words  the  genie  strode  over  to  the  witch  and — 

"Well,  bless  my  soul,"  interposed  the  King,  "what  busi- 
ness did  he  have  to  send  that  witch  here,  I'd  like  to  know? 


226  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

•So  that's  how  she  came  to  live  in  my  Forest!  A  fine  piece  of 
work,  I  must  say!  A  pretty  how-d'ye-do,  to  send  their  cast- 
off  witches  over  here!  What  business  had  he  to — " 

"Never  mind,  grandfather,"  said  Bo  John,  "do  let  him  go 
on  with  his  story." 

"A  fine  piece  of  work!"  said  the  King.  "Of  all  the  high- 
handed, brazen-faced — " 

"My  dear!"  said  the  Queen. 

The  genie  strode  over  to  the  witch  in  three  steps  and 
plucked  her  down  with  one  hand.  He  then  tucked  her  under 
his  arm  like  a  sack  of  corn,  and  stood  before  the  one-armed 
youth. 

"Stoop  down !"  said  the  young  man. 

The  genie  bowed  low,  and  the  young  man,  to  my  sur- 
prise, reached  up  and  pulled  from  the  back  of  his  head,  at 
the  neck,  ten  long  hairs,  one  by  one. 

"Away  I"  cried  the  one-armed  youth. 

The  Genie  Flies  Away  With  the  Witch 

The  genie  stood  up,  and  opening  his  great  mouth  in  a 
silent  laugh,  stamped  upon  the  earth  so  that  it  shook,  and 
leaped  straight  up.  He  rose  in  the  air  in  a  wide  curve; 
and  before  we  could  blink  again  he  was  gone  like  an  arrow 
over  the  treetops,  with  the  witch  under  his  arm,  and  was  no 
more  than  a  speck  in  the  evening  sky. 

The  young  man  tucked  the  ten  hairs  away  inside  his 
gown. 

"Now,"  said  he,  "she's  gone.  And  good  riddance,  too, 
I  should  say." 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET   227 

"Sir,"  said  I  to  him,  "will  you  tell  us  who  you  are,  and 
what  brings  you  here?" 

"I  am  a  sorcerer,"  said  he,  "and  I  dwell  in  an  island  far 
out  in  the  Great  Sea.  I  am  known  there  as  the  One-Armed 
Sorcerer.  I  came  here,  with  the  genie  whom  I  command  by 
virtue  of  a  ring  of  his  hair,  in  order  to  prove  my  skill  against 
the  witch.  I  undertook  to  release  our  good  friend  the  High- 
wayman and  his  ten  fair  daughters,  but  I  am  bound  to  say 
that  I  managed  it  badly;  so  badly  that  the  witch  got  the 
genie's  hair  away  from  me,  and  by  means  of  that  hair  turned 
him  into  a  dog  and  shut  me  up  inside  the  wasp's  nest.  And 
all  because  I  didn't  know  the  rule,  that  you  mustn't  speak 
before  you're  spoken  to." 

"A  pretty  good  rule,"  said  I,  "but  if  everybody  observed 
it,  "who  would  ever  talk?" 

"Well,  anyway,"  said  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer,  "here  I 
have  ten  buttons,  and  here  I  have  ten  threads  from  the 
genie's  head.  I  propose  to  make  you  a  doublet,  sir;  a 
magic  doublet;  and  for  the  cloth,  the  wasp's  nest  will  be 
the  very  thing.  It  will  be  a  doublet  worth  having;  and  to 
you,  sir,  who  have  so  nobly  preserved  us  all,  I  will  present 
it  on — er — ahem  ! — on  your  wedding  day." 

"Hurrah!"  piped  up  the  elderly  Highwayman,  and  the 
lady  on  my  arm  blushed. 

"Oh,  isn't  that  sweet  of  him?"  cried  her  nine  sisters. 
"Isn't  it  just  too  sweet  for  anything?  It's  really  the  sweet- 
est thing,  now  isn't  it?  Too  perfectly  sweet  for  words, 
it  is,  really!" 

The  One-Armed  Sorcerer,  stepping  over  to  the  wasp's 


228  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

nest,  pulled  it  down  from  the  tree  without  breaking  it,  and 
slung  it  on  his  back. 

"Come  with  me !"  I  cried.  "You  shall  all  return  with  me 
to  my  father's  castle.  Will  you  consent  to  that?" 

"Well,"  said  the  elderly  Highwayman, — 

"Though  anxious  to  accommodate,  I  fear  it's  growing  rather  late, 
I    seldom   stay   out   after   eight — " 

"Oh,  father!"  cried  his  daughters,  nine  of  them,  together, 
"it  would  be  perfectly  jolly!" 

"It  would  suit  me  to  perfection,"  said  the  One-Armed 
Sorcerer. 

"Oh,  -won't  it  be  jolly?  It  will  be  jolly,  won't  it? 
Wouldn't  it  be  perfectly  jolly?"  cried  the  nine  young  dam- 
sels, clapping  their  hands. 

"Will  you  come  home  with  me?"  I  whispered  to  the  fair- 
est of  the  ten,  who  had  said  nothing. 

"If  you  wish  it,"  she  whispered,  blushing  again. 

"Oh,  aren't  they  just  the  dearest  things?"  cried  her  nine 
sisters.  "It's  love  at  first  sight — oh,  the  dear  things! 
Aren't  they  just  simply  too  dear  for  anything?  They  are 
perfectly  dear,  now,  aren't  they?  Really  now,  aren't  they 
just  too  perfectly  dear?" 

The  Prince  Leads  His  Beloved  Home 
Well,  the  long  and  the  short  of  it  is,  we  reached  my 
father's  castle  late  that  night,   under  a  starry  sky.     The 
attendants  whom  I  had  left  in  the  forest  had  returned  with- 
out me,   and  the  castle   was   a-twitter  with   anxiety.      But 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET  229 

when  I  led  my  fair  lady  into  the  great  hall  and  presented 
her  to  my  father,  the  King,  and  her  nine  sisters  and  the 
elderly  Highwayman  and  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer  stood 
bowing  behind  us,  there  was  joy,  I  can  tell  you,  and  the 
rafters  rang  again. 

My  father,  after  a  long  look  at  the  beautiful  damsel  at 
my  side,  and  then  at  me,  gave  a  long,  slow  whistle,  without 
making  a  sound,  and  stooped  and  kissed  her  on  both  cheeks, 
nudging  me  with  his  elbow  at  the  same  time. 

A  cheer  went  up  again,  and  my  father  took  me  aside  and 
whispered  in  my  ear. 

"You  rascal,"  said  he,  "I  never  thought  you  had  it  in  you 
to —  Really!  You  don't  say  so!  You  astonish  me!  A 
Highwayman's  daughter !  Well,  well,  think  of  that !  Very 
original  of  you,  my  son;  I'm  sure  I  never  would  have 
thought  of  such  a  thing  at  your  age.  She's  got  a  fine  eye, 
my  boy;  there's  a  look  in  it  I've  seen  in  your  mother's  eye; 
a  will  of  her  own,  you  can't  fool  me  about  that  look, — 
yes,  yes,  very  beautiful, — but  a  will  of  her  own,  remember  I 
told  you.  A  Highwayman's  daughter!  That's  good. 
Highly  original.  Well,  well,  it  might  have  been  the  Hang- 
man's daughter — but  remember  what  I  told  you  about  that 
look  in  the  eye,  I've  seen  it  before, — your  mother  used 
to — but  she's  certainly  beautiful  all  the  same — when  does 
the  wedding  come  off?" 

The  Magic  Doublet  Is  Presented  at   the  Wedding 

We  were  married  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day.  Such 
feasting,  such  dancing,  such  merriment, — and  gifts  innum- 


230  SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 

erable;  but  the  best  gift  of  all  was  a  doublet,  made  with  his 
left  hand  by  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer  from  the  skin  of  the 
witch's  wasp's  nest,  fastened  by  the  witch's  ten  buttons  sewed 
on  with  the  genie's  hair;  a  doublet  to  preserve  the  wearer 
from  all  harm.  And  this,  as  the  wedding  dinner  was  near- 
ing  its  end,  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer,  rising  in  his  place,  pre- 
sented to  me  with  a  pretty  speech,  for  which  I  thanked 
him. 

"Sir,"  said  my  father,  addressing  the  One-Armed  Sor- 
cerer, "I  invite  you  to  remain  with  me  at  my  court,  to  in- 
struct my  son  in  the  mystery  of  handling  a  wife.  Nobody 
but  a  sorcerer  should  undertake  such  a  job.  Will  you  try 
it?" 

"Alas,  your  majesty,"  said  the  One-Armed  Sorcerer,  "it 
is  far  beyond  my  powers.  And  besides,  I  must  return  to  my 
island  home,  on  pressing  business." 

"Very  well,  then,"  said  my  father.  He  took  my  bride's 
hand  in  his  and  patted  it,  while  she  looked  down  in  con- 
fusion. "My  dear,"  said  he  to  her,  "you  must  persuade 
your  sisters  to  remain  here  with  us.  And  as  for  your  father, 
I  design  to  appoint  him  Lord  Treasurer  of  my  kingdom. 
I  think  a  Highwayman  ought  to  be  a  good  man  to  take 
charge  of  my  money.  Will  you  persuade  him  to  accept  that 
office?" 

"Oh!"  cried  the  nine  sisters,  without  giving  my  bride  a 
chance  to  speak.  "That  would  be  jolly !  Oh,  wouldn't  it  be 
jolly?  It  will  be  just  too  perfectly  jolly  for  anything,  won't 
it?  But  really,  though,  won't  it  be  jolly?  Just  too  simply, 
perfectly,  adorably  jolly!" 


HIS  TALES  OF  THE  MAGIC  DOUBLET  231 

"Your  majesty,"  said  my  father-in-law  the  Highwayman, 
rising  up  on  his  elderly  legs, — 

"Although  I  am  not  confident  that  I'm  entirely  competent,  I  thank 
you  for  the  compliment, 

I  thank  you  most  sincerely; 

I  fear  I  am  not  very  quick  in  matters  of  arithmetic,  but  often  when 
the  answers  stick 

I   get  them, — very  nearly; 

And   if   at   first    I   don't   succeed    I    try   again,   although   indeed    I 
cannot  say  I  always  heed 

Each  wretched   little  fraction; 

And  anyway  you  must  agree  if  one  but  knows  his  Rule  of  Three 
there's  hardly  any  need  to  be 

Acquainted  with  subtraction. 

"I  do  not  wish  to  seem  to  boast,  of  all  things  I  detest  it  most, 
and  yet  I  think  I'd  fill  the  post 

Not  very  ill,  not  very: 

From  early  youth   I  did  betray,   I've  often  heard  my  mother  say, 
a  really  rather  taking  way 

In  matters  monetary; 

A  simple  little  rule  or  two  I  always  try  to  keep  in  view,  to  do 
what  I  am  told  to  do, 

And  always  speak  politely, 

And  never  make  a  saucy  joke  behind  the  backs  of  other  folk,  a  rule 
which  I  have  seldom  broke, 

If  I  remember  rightly. 

"My  motto  is  a  simple  one,  that  happiness  depends  upon  the  con- 
sciousness of  duty  done 

(Unless  it's  too  unpleasant), 


232 


SOLARIO  THE  TAILOR 


I  value  virtue  more  than  wit,  and  as  for  riches,  I  admit  I  do  not 
value  them  a  bit 

(At  least,  not  just  at  present), 

I  think,  however,  I  should  state,  that  though  I  don't  mind  working 
late,  I  like  to  be  at  home  by  eight, 

When  supper's  on  the  table; 

And  thus,  in  words  of  simple  art,  I  thank  you,  Sir,  with  all  my 
heart,  and  promise  I  will  do  my  part 

(At  least,  as  far  as  able)." 


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